


Travelling The Universe

by SoneaKyraliana



Category: Doctor Who, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-04-25 03:24:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 54,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4944919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoneaKyraliana/pseuds/SoneaKyraliana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Time Lords knew, time isn't set on stone. And although they were powerful beings, they weren't gods. What would happen then if a casual encounter led to something bigger? Big enough to change the last of the Time Lords future? What would happen if a certain Time Lord discovered that there are more things in the universe than he ever expected? If he could be surprised?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, my mother tongue isn't English so sorry for any mistake in the text. Second, if any of you has read the story "Reach for the Stars" written by Little.Miss.Xanda in fanfiction, I know this story starts like that one. I already got her permission to use it when I started to publish this on fanfiction.net. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1

"Hello."

He looked up and locked eyes with a pair of the greenest eyes he had ever seen. They looked like the purest emeralds, and he would know, he had seen emeralds.

"Hello." he replied, noticing that the emeralds belonged to a child. A child with a mop of dark black hair that seemed to defy gravity with the way it stuck up in every direction.

"You're sad." the child stated, with all the bluntness children are known to have.

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

"What makes you say that?" he asked the small child. It had been lifetimes since he had interacted with a child. He didn't remember how to talk to them, though he was almost sure that it wasn't the way he was doing it.

"Your eyes." he replied.

“What happens with them?”

“They are old, and sad.”

Smart, brilliant child. He smiled.

The little boy seemed to study him for a few moments, those incredibly green eyes never leaving him, and then he nodded to himself. A determined look appeared on his little face.

He put his hand in his pocket and took out a small globe. It wasn't more than five centimetres wide.

"Here." the child said, handing him the globe.

He took it and saw that there was a small galaxy floating around inside the globe.

"It's for you." the small boy said and he looked up, his surprise showing, "When I'm alone and feel lonely and sad I always look at the stars. They are always there, they make me less sad. So if you have the stars always with you then maybe you'll be less sad too." the child explained, smiling shyly.

"Boy!" the shout broke the peaceful air around them and the boy looked around, a frightened look appearing in his eyes.

The child threw him a last smile, a whispered goodbye left his lips and then he was running.

He kept staring at the place the boy had been for a few moments, then he glanced at the sphere still in his hand and a small, soft smile appeared on his lips.

And that is how The Doctor met Harry Potter, the boy who gave him the stars.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

They met again.

On the same date, exactly one year later, they met on a bench in the playground of Surrey. Well, it had been one year for little Harry, though a mere few months for The Doctor.

He hadn't really meant to meet the child again; however he talked himself into it. It was rude after all not to thank someone when they gave you a gift. However, as was often the case, he overshot the date by a whole year.

He took a seat on the bench beside the boy. He was a little taller, but still far smaller than many boys his age.

"You know, I never thanked you for giving me those stars." he remarked, as if it hadn't been a year since the child had seen him. He was half expecting for the child not to remember him, but something told him that the boy would.

Those green eyes, more shadowed than the last time he had seen them, looked at him.

"Did it work?" came the soft question and he blinked.

Such a truly brilliant child.

"Yes." he replied honestly.

It had worked, although probably not in the way the boy had meant it. That globe had reminded the Doctor of the stars that that he himself loved so much and had made him travel again.

"Then you're welcome." the boy smiled softly.

"Freak, we're going home." A big and fat boy shouted making the child sigh.

"Goodbye." he whispered softly and the next moment he was gone, lost in the midst of the other children running and playing.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

Another year passed, at least for the little child, and they met yet again.

"So, I was thinking," The Doctor started as soon as he sat on the bench beside the little boy, "You gave me your stars, which means that you have none when you feel sad or lonely. That doesn't sound like it's particularly fair, does it?"

The child smiled at him, his eyes far older than they should be but still just as green.

"It isn't about it being fair." the child told him, "It's about it being right. I thought you needed them, so I gave them to you. Not because it was fair; it was the right thing to do."

Really, he had to wonder how such a small boy managed to give him hope, to bring back the faith that he seemed to be losing. Not even his companions could do that. Rose did her best, but she was far more in love with the idea of him than with him. He liked her, he could even fall in love with her, but knowing that she would never truly love him hurt far too much to risk getting closer.

But this child, with his shy smiles, his shadowed, but so very green eyes, his goodness, gave him hope. Even after all that he had lived through, he couldn't understand it.

He smiled at the boy and got a slightly brighter smile in return.

The child looked at the clock across the playground and sighed. He got up, whispered goodbye and left yet again.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

"I think I'm a rather fair person," The Doctor said as soon as he sat down, gaining the green eyed boy's attention who smiled at him, "Though I understand doing the right thing too." he continued the conversation as if another year hadn't passed. "So I believe that what I'm about to do is both fair and right." he took a small box out of his pocket and gave it to the boy.

Almost as if he were afraid of touching it the child took it. He stared at it for a moment, looking completely lost, and both his hearts broke a little. Had no person ever given him a gift?

"Well, go on... open it." he encouraged.

With trembling hands the child did.

Inside was a necklace and dangling from it was a leaf with a white star engraved. What the child didn't know was that the whole necklace was actually made from a dead star. He had gone there specifically to collect the cooling metals for it to be crafted.

"Now you too will always have a star with you." he smiled, "Let me put it on you." he also didn't mention that those despicable people he lived with wouldn't be able to see it. Perception filters were such handy things.

Big beautiful green eyes looked back at him while he closed the pendant around his neck. They were filled with tears but the child didn't let them fall.

He seemed to bring himself together and pulled him down slightly. The boy gave him a fleeting kiss on the cheek, blushed bright red and then ran from the park.

The Doctor couldn't quite stop the chuckle that escaped him.

Really, such a brilliant, brilliant child.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

"I never asked," not counting that first time, The Doctor was always the one who started their conversations, maybe because the child was already there when he arrived, "Why do you like the stars so much?"

"I don't really know, I just always have." a small content smile on his lips, "I can't think of anything better than to travel amongst the stars. Visit all the galaxies throughout the universe, uncover its mysteries only to find new ones in every travel. Can you imagine all the wonders out there?"

The Doctor had never seen the child show so much emotion. So much passion, joy, excitement. It was fascinating to watch. Not even his companions showed such pure emotion when they travelled through time and space.

He couldn't help but wonder if it was because of his childhood innocence that he could have such pure emotions. Then he remembered the shadows in those greener than leaves eyes and he knew that it couldn't be it. The child knew suffering, was used to it.

In his eyes that made this child even more special; so much suffering, yet still so fundamentally innocent.

"So you believe that there is something more out there?" he asked curiously.

The child almost jumped from his seat, then turned around to face him. His smile open and warm. A delighted laugh escaped his lips and The Doctor was mesmerized. He had never heard the child laugh, never heard such a sweet, pure sound.

"Of course I do." laughing green eyes blinked at him, "The universe is ever changing and expanding. Almost infinite in its vastness and time is never ending. It will always be, always beginning, always ending. With all that time, all that space, wouldn't it be such a waste if there was nothing but us out there?" the child laughed again, free and joyful, "Just imagine the possibilities."

He didn't have to imagine; he knew them, he had seen them. But recently he had found it more and more difficult to find anything more fascinating than the child in front of him.

The child looked at the clock behind him and sighed.

"Bye." green eyes dimmed a little.

"Bye." he whispered back when the child had left the small playground, his mind on laughing green eyes belonging to a child who dreamed of traveling amongst the stars.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

He was starting to worry a little. Well, maybe more than a little.

The child wasn't there.

When he arrived and noticed that Green-Eyes wasn't sitting on their usual bench he thought nothing of it. He took his usual seat and waited. That in and on itself had been strange. He usually never waited for anyone; still the little human wasn't just anyone. And so the Doctor waited.

Then time started passing and the child didn't appear.

When one hour had come and gone he was standing ready to go search for the child. However before he could he felt a small body collide with his own.

He looked down and saw a mop of silky black hair and almost sighed in relief.

"Well, hello to you too." he said, his arms circling around the little body.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here." came the mumbled reply.

"It's alright." his arms tightened just a little before he let go, "Come, let's sit."

They took their seats, the child sitting much closer than usual but The Doctor didn't mind. His hearts were still beating a little quicker than they normally did and having the child close assured him that nothing had happened to him.

Both were silent for a little while, enjoying each other’s company, then the little boy looked at him, his eyes brighter than he had ever seen them and smiled.

"You waited." he stated, the happiness in that single word almost overwhelming.

"Of course I did." he replied, "You gave me the stars, how could I not wait?" he smiled at the child and winked, getting a laugh for the boy, "So, why were you late than?" he was curious. No, scratch that, he was really, really curious.

The shadows in those green eyes were deeper, and he seemed even more mature.

"My parents were murdered." the child told him, he sounded pained and his hearts broke for the child, "I knew they were dead, but I had been told by my aunt that they had died in a car crash while driving drunk. I found out that they were murdered. It's... it's different. They are still gone, dead, but even so it changes everything."

"How so?" he asked, knowing that the child wanted and needed to talk about it.

"I thought they left me because they were being irresponsible, what kind of parents drive drunk with their toddler in the car? I couldn't help but resent them a little for leaving me. But now... they died protecting me. They were murdered but did everything they possibly could to keep me safe." green-eyes sighed and looked at him, "I feel ashamed of ever doubting them."

"You shouldn't." The Doctor stated firmly, his eyes never leaving the boy's, "You had no way of knowing. Your aunt should be the one ashamed. She should never have lied to you."

"She hates my mum." the child whispered, "I think she was jealous."

"Jealousy more often than not leads to hate." The Doctor replied, "I'm sorry you have to live in such a home."

"It's alright," the boy smiled at him, "I have my star." he gripped the necklace that was around his neck and The Doctor smiled back.

The boy got up after looking at the clock, gave him a quick hug and left.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

This time it actually felt like he hadn't seen the boy in a year. That new maturity that he had noticed last time was still there, but much more pronounced. His eyes were even more shadowed than before, though there was a spark in them that had previously been absent. Something in those eyes said that he had seen more, knew more.

"I've met the man who murdered my parents." the child said as soon as he sat, for once beginning their odd little conversations. "Is it strange that I don't hate him?"

"I wouldn't call it strange." The Doctor replied, trying not to think about how or why they met, "What did you feel?"

"For him?" emerald orbs closed, hiding the emotions swimming in them, "Sad, heartbroken." he whispered, "He is brilliant. I wish that he hadn't opted to kill. I wish someone had saved him."

The Doctor closed his eyes as well. How could this little human understand something that most people never grasped? How could he feel compassion for his parents' killer when most people couldn't feel compassion for anyone but those they loved?

"Maybe you can save him."

The child's answering smile was bittersweet, tinged with sadness.

"I don't think he wants to be saved."

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

"Why the long face?" he asked as soon as he sat beside the boy.

"I met him again." The Doctor didn't need to ask who, he knew.

"Oh?" he wanted to say so much more, but he was slightly afraid of saying anything else. He was afraid that green-eyes would notice just how angry he actually was.

Just what were the people around the child doing? How could they let him meet his parent’s killer, not once but twice?

"Yes, he said we were alike." the boy replied.

"You are nothing alike." he stated fiercely.

"I told him the same thing." there was a bitter smile on his lips, "I was lying,"

"What do you mean?"

"He and I are rather similar."

"You would never kill."

"I would." green-eyes stated with such certainty that it surprised him. They locked eyes and The Doctor could see the truth in them. "For those I love, for the better of the whole. Sometimes there is no other choice."

He hated the fact that a thirteen year old knew that. He hated seeing those emeralds orbs looking so much older than they should.

"I'm so, so sorry." he said, because there was nothing else he could say.

"Don't be." he didn't deserve the sweet, gentle smile that was aimed at him, "It's hardly your fault."

That day he got his second farewell hug from the child and instead of the goodbye he usually got, he got a whispered thank you.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

"I have a godfather!" was the excited exclamation he was greeted with as soon as he entered the playground. The child... well, he wasn't really a child anymore.

The teen laughed joyfully, his eyes shining with happiness. Eyes that weren't hidden behind glasses anymore. Those emeralds became quite distracting when they weren't hidden behind glasses.

"Do you?"

"Yeah!" another laugh, "His name's Sirius. Isn't that awesome? He's named after a star! It's as if I got my own personal star now."

The Doctor let the joyful laughter wash over him. He ignored the slight jealousy that flared, because the only thing that mattered was that the teen was happy. What did it matter who the one responsible for it was?

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

When tear filled eyes locked on him and he heard the muffled sob he ran. He was beside the teen in little over a second and pulled him into a hug. Even when the teen tried to get free he held him close. He whispered sweet nothings into his ear, trying to calm him. What felt like eons later but was no more than five minutes the teen sagged in his arms.

"What's wrong?"

Shattered emerald orbs looked at him and his hearts broke. He never wanted to see that look in the teen's eyes.

"He looked just like you. Exactly like you." came the whisper, "He tried to kill me. He didn't. And then he was dead. And I thought..." a small, delicate hand touched his cheek, "You're alive." the relief in that simple sentence was so profound that he felt overwhelmed. "You're alive." the teen buried his face in his chest, "My most precious star." it was said so low that he almost missed it. But he didn't and his arms tightened around the slender teen.

The teen's breathing evened out and when The Doctor looked down he found him asleep. The Doctor pulled him a little closer, adjusting the teen on his lap. Almost without conscious thought his left hand went to the mop of silky black hair and started stroking it.

He was rather thankful that the teen fell asleep. He didn't know if he would have been able to conceal for much longer the murderous rage that had consumed him the moment he heard that someone had tried to kill the precious teen.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

"Sirius' dead." the voice sounded hollow and the Doctor nearly flinched. He didn’t like hearing that tone in his voice.

"I'm sorry."

The teen leaned into his side, his head resting on his shoulder.

"It's hardly your fault."

"It isn't yours either."

"Who said it was?"

"I know that look."

"I walked into a trap, he went to save me."

"Then he has my eternal gratitude."

"My life isn't worth more than his or than anyone's."

"All life should be treasured, true. But to me, yours is worth more than the universe."

That got him a startled laugh. Brilliant emeralds looked at him, shining as they should always shine.

"Oh, you are a flatterer that is for sure. I bet you say that to everyone. You must be a real heart-breaker, with that charming smile and silver tongue." the teen teased.

He laughed as well, freely, joyful. Something he hadn't done in years.

"Just you, my little emerald." he replied and it was true. He had lost many because he believed the universe was more important.

Rose being the last on a long list of people that either left him or that he left behind. At least she was alive and with her family. With time she would get over him, find someone who would love her the way she deserved to be loved, grow old with her, and have a life with her.

But this teen... he didn't know if he could ever give him up. He didn’t know if he would ever want to give him up.

Green-eyes must have seen the sadness in his eyes when he thought of Rose because soon he found himself receiving a hug. The Doctor was once again surprised by his perceptiveness.

“What is it that has you so sad? Did something happen?”

“I… nothing important.”

The Time Lord could tell that the teen knew it was a lie, but he didn’t push him. That was another thing he liked from him, he always seemed to know when to let him be and the Doctor appreciated it. He had someone to speak to if he wanted, even if he preferred to simply hear.

The teen looked to the clock and the Doctor knew that he would be gone soon.

Suddenly the teen looked a little nervous and the Doctor was startled when he spoke again.

“A girl kissed me.”

What surprised the Time Lord the most was the jealous feeling and desire to pay that girl a visit that flared to live inside him. She had no right, nobody had a right... the teen was his.

The though surprised the Doctor. Emerald eyes full of life and shadows peeked at him through strands of silky black hair. The teen must have seen what he had been looking for because a second later he continued.

“I didn’t like it.”

 “You didn’t?”

The teen shook his head. For a moment the Doctor felt like smiling but restrained.

“Why?”

“She is a girl.”

“And you don’t like girls?” inquired the man feeling strangely more happy with every moment that passed.

“I’m not sure. I have only ever liked a person.” muttered the teen.

The Doctor felt sad at the thought of his little emerald liking another.

“And I am fairly sure he is a man. “whispered Green-eyes looking at him rather intently.

The Doctor felt hope flare to live in his chest and couldn’t help but smile a little. He looked to the side, ready to say something, but the teen wasn’t there.

The Time Lord looked up just in time to see the gate of the playground closing after a lithe body and sighed.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

The teen wasn't there, instead he found a letter. It was directed to “my Star”. Strangely, it seemed to have been written with a quill in parchment.

“It’s funny but when I started writing this letter I didn’t know who I had to direct it to. We never exchanged names. Never needed them.

I’m sorry I can’t be there today to meet you. I wish I could be. I would give anything to see you one more time, but right now it’s not possible. So much happened this last year… So much I want to tell you. And to ask you. I always thought we would have more time.

But I started to write this letter two hours ago and I still don’t know how to put it with the right words. I suppose that I only wanted you to know that our days together were the best of my life. You were the only person that I could be really myself with.

I have made arrangements for the future and, if something happens to me, someone trusted by me will seek you out. He will tell you everything, even what I have not been able to tell you these last years.

I don’t know if I’ll survive this, but I want you to know that I’ll try my best. I want to survive this mess… I hope to survive it, if only to see you again. And maybe then you can tell me your name in person.

Thank you for making my life worth living.

Love,

Your Harry”

Harry... his little emerald was named Harry.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

He stormed into the TARDIS, the letter clutched in one of his hands.

Normally, he would have waited at least a few months before going to meet his green eyed teen again, but not this time. This time he needed to see that he was okay, he needed to know if he had survived. And if not…

“Come on, girl. Please, land on the right date." he almost whispered.

It seemed that his lovely spaceship understood, because only less than a minute later he was on the right date.

He needed Harry. He couldn't lose him, he had to be alive. He had to be there. Without a second of hesitation, he ran out of the TARDIS.

He ran all the way to the playground.

He stopped.

A relieved laugh escaped his lips. It was enough to get his attention and breathtakingly beautiful emerald eyes looked at him. The blinding smile aimed at him made him run again and in a matter of seconds he had Harry in a hug.

"You're here." he whispered, feeling overwhelming relief.

"So are you." came the reply.

He pushed Harry a little away, taking him in. There were much darker shadows in his eyes and he was thinner, so much thinner that it concerned him.

He had let his hair grow out a bit, but not too much. He was still a head shorter than him and still had the greenest eyes he had ever seen. And around his neck there was his leaf with the star engraved.

He had changed so much in that year, but everything that he had found fascinating about him was still there.

"Harry..." he whispered the name for the first time, he got a brilliant smile in return, "I am The Doctor."

"You named yourself." Harry stated more than asked.

"Yes."

"Hum."

"Won't you ask what my real name is? Or Doctor who?"

"Not really."

"Don't you want to know? Aren't you curious?"

"Of course I am curious, but your name has never mattered before so, why should it matter now? Besides, the name one gives oneself tells much more about a person than any name he is given. Why would I push you into telling me something you obviously do not want to talk about?"

He laughed again, his eyes sparkling. He should not be surprised, taking into account the way he had reacted to all of their encounters.

“Normally, people don’t care about that. They only want to know.”

“Well, then I suppose I am not normal people.”

“No, you aren’t.” laughed again the Doctor.

He pulled him into a hug again, his arms tightening just a little more.

"Come with me." he whispered, "I'll take you to see the stars."

Harry just smiled and nodded, letting The Doctor pull him along without releasing him. The Time Lord needed to feel the young man besides him; heart beating and lungs breathing, alive.

And that's how Harry Potter left with the Doctor, the man who gave him the stars. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Doctor opened the door to the TARDIS with an exaggerated flourish and held it open for Harry to enter.

“Welcome to the TARDIS.”

The teen looked around with an easy smile, without even batting an eyelash at it being bigger on the inside.

The Doctor closed the door behind himself and watched transfixed the reaction of his unusual companion.

“You are not surprised that’s bigger inside?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“Should I?” answered the teen looking at him with amusement.

“Well, all the people I’ve travelled with are.”

“I’ve already seen something like this so it’s not so surprising.”

“You’ve seen Time Lord Technology? Where? How is that possible?” exclaimed surprised the Doctor.

This time the teen stopped looking around at the TARDIS and fixed his attention on the Doctor with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

“Time Lord? What’s that?”

“I am.” said the Doctor grinning a little like a loon.

“That doesn’t explain much, Doctor.” replied Harry with a slight pout.

The Time Lord felt himself melt at the sight and his eyes softened.

“The Time Lords were an ancient race born in the planet Gallifrey, in a galaxy far away from here.” informed the man.

“Were?” enquired the human softly.

“I’m the last.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly.”

Harry simply nodded and the Doctor couldn’t help but compare his reaction to his other companions’. It was a relief that the human didn’t pity him nor push him to reveal anything; instead he just offered compassion and silent acceptance.

“So you are an alien?” teased the teen. “You look human.”

“Yeah, I’m an alien. And I’ll have you know that I don’t look human; you humans look Gallifreyan.” declared the man with feigned offence.

“Really? If we were going to take on an appearance at least it could have been from a more aesthetically superior race, couldn’t it?” claimed with a false sigh.

“Why you little minx!” shouted the Doctor grabbing the teen and tickling him.

The man continued doing it until Harry was practically begging for mercy. When the Doctor finally stopped Harry was panting from all the laughing and they were both in a heap on the floor.

Harry looked up from where he was laying with his head on the Doctor’s chest and tilted his head cutely to the side.

“What’s different about Time Lords?”

The Doctor smiled down at him hearing the curiosity colouring his voice.

“You’re not bothered that I’m not human? You’re okay with that?”

“Yes, why not?”

“And you believe me? Without probe?”

“I trust you.”

The Doctor shook his head in wonder. He didn’t deserve someone like Harry.

That didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have him. He was, after all, a very selfish person.

“Well, I have two hearts.”

“That explains why the beating of your heart sounded different.”

“Exactly. Physically I´m very resistant to extreme terms. I have telepathy and I can feel the rotation of a planet, the universe. I can see the future, the past and the present. And if not by some accident a Time Lord can live forever.”

Harry looked at him overwhelmed.

“I’m sorry.” whispered. “It has to be horrible to have to bear such a burden. To have to see so much death and destruction. I’m so sorry.”

The Doctor looked at him wide eyed.

“Did I say something bad?” questioned the human when the Doctor didn’t react.

“No, no, it’s just… in all my life this is the first time someone has said that.”

“Oh.”

“Now, are you going to tell me where you saw Time Lord Technology?”

“It’s not. Time Lord Technology, I mean.”

“What was it then?”

“I… I can’t tell you.” said the teen pulling away from him.

The Doctor took his hands in his but the teen withdrew them and stood up. The man did the same and looked at the teen with concern.

“You’ll send me away.”

“Harry, I would never send you away. I’ve been dreaming of travelling with you for so long… why would I ever send you away?”

“My relatives hate me for it. My own family. I’m a freak. You’ll realise it and send me away.” whispered Harry with his voice trembling.

“You’re not a freak, Harry!” nearly shouted the Doctor. “Your relatives were monsters and whatever it was they did to you was wrong! They were wrong!”

The Time Lord approached the teen once more and took his head sweetly between his hands.

“I would never send you away, Harry. Never.”

Harry took a deep breath and gathered courage from the warmth the Doctor´s eyes showed.

“I’m a wizard.”

The man blinked.

Seeing the fear growing into those gorgeous emerald eyes the man struggled to say something.

“A… wizard.”

“Yes. You don’t believe me, do you?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, Harry. It’s just… a wizard? As in… magical?”

“Exactly. Just like in our tales. A wand waving, broom riding, potion making wizard. Even with the robes and the pointy hat.”

“Probe it.” requested the man.

He felt like a complete git, demanding to see probes before believing him when the teen hadn’t once doubted his word, but he couldn’t help it. An alien had a logical explanation. Magic, on the other side, had no logic at all.

The human gazed around for a moment, thinking what would be the best way of demonstrating magic.

“Okay.” started fishing something from a pocket and opening it. “Put your arm in it.”

“My arm?” queried the man. The purse seemed barely able to fit his hand, let alone his whole arm.

“It’s bigger on the inside.”

The Doctor gave him a long look, then shrugged and did as asked. He couldn’t keep the surprise out of his face when he found that his arm didn’t even touch the bottom.

The man took his screwdriver from a pocket and pointed it at the purse, intent on scanning it and finding a logical explanation.

“What’s that?” enquired the nervous teen.

“A sonic screwdriver.” muttered the man absentmindedly. “Impossible. It’s not technology. It’s not even science. It´s just a normal purse except for the fact that’s bigger on the inside.”

The Time Lord started mumbling about something, but it was too technical for Harry to understand.

“Okay, that’s bigger on the inside.” sighed the man. “But I need something more, I don’t know…”

“I can do other things.” interrupted the teen.

The Doctor’s focus went to Harry once more and the teen wished he had kept silent. Although there was nothing but curiosity in his eyes the teen was sure that it was only because he still hadn’t accepted that magic was real. Harry was certain that when that happened he would be sent away.

Anyway, he decided to risk it. He wouldn’t be able to hide it from the Doctor and he didn’t want to try.

Harry took his wand out of its holster and pointed it at a railing. With a movement of the wand, the railing was transfigured into a silk blanket.

The Doctor took the blanket and caressed it. His expression was one of wonder.

“This is silk. It feels like silk. But it’s impossible to transform metal in silk.” The Time Lord looked at him. “And you’ve just done it. It could be only a deception of perception, I suppose.” continued the man pointing the screwdriver to the blanket.

Harry sighed and waved his wand again, causing the man to jump when the blanket transformed into a little sparrow.

In the blink of an eye the screwdriver was pointed at it.

“It’s alive. Completely normal. As if it was born like this. A living breathing being. As if it wasn’t just a piece of metal. I can’t believe it.” whispered the man. “It should be impossible. I have never seen something like this.”

The Doctor raised his head to look at the incredible teen and his eyes widened when he saw the frightened look of his little beauty.

“Now you’ll send me away, won’t you?” stated the teen looking away when his voice trembled, trying to hold back the tears.

“What? No! Of course not!” said the Time Lord approaching him. “I won’t send you away, Harry. You’ll stay with me for as long as you wish to. You are so special, Harry. You are impossible. My special little wizard.”

The Doctor wrapped his arms around the teen’s waist and Harry rested his head on his shoulder.

“Why am I impossible, Doctor?” asked after a minute in silence.

The Doctor pulled away just enough to be able to look him in the eyes.

“Because, my little Emerald, you are human. And yet you brandish the powers of an Eternal without being limited by their lack of imagination. The power of a god and the brain of a human. It’s brilliant.” exclaimed.

“We have limitations too, Doctor.”

“We? There are more?” questioned the man with open excitement.

“A whole hidden society.” smiled the teen relaxing a little.

“Why do you hide then?”

“You know about the Salem Trials. What do you think would happen if the muggles discovered us? There is one of us for every eight thousands of them. Our population is too low. The muggles are constantly developing new technologies and we’ve being in stalemate for more than three hundred years. We could win because we have magic, but we would lose too many people in a meaningless war. No, it´s better if they don’t know about us.”

“I can understand that. I know very well how cruel and close minded humans can be when they don’t understand something new.” muttered the Doctor. “And your population is really low if there’s only one for every eight thousands of normal humans, how did you call them? Muggles? You’ve mentioned the Salem Trials. How long has your kind been around for?”

“Yes, non-magical people are called muggles. And we’ve been around for thousands of years. I’m not really sure, nobody remembers it.”

The Doctor nodded.

“Respect to our numbers… that is speaking only about the wizards and witches, but the wizarding world is much more than just us. There are a lot of magical beings, some as intelligent as we are, some more and some less.”

“It sounds incredible. You have to tell me more about this world. It’s not every day that I find a world I knew nothing about.” urged the man.

Harry laughed freely at the excited look of the Time Lord, relaxing further when the man didn’t move to break the embrace. Maybe he wouldn’t be left behind after all.

Meanwhile, the Doctor found himself completely mesmerized by the image of the laughing teen. He couldn’t think of anything more striking in the entire universe and swore to make the teen laugh more often.

Suddenly his stomach complained and the teen blushed rather becomingly.

“Have you eaten today?” worried the Doctor.

“No, I was too nervous at seeing you again.” confessed the teen.

“Well, then we’ll just go somewhere to eat? What do you think of France? There was a pretty good restaurant in 1942.”

“But we’re not in 1942, Doctor.”

“No, but we can be. Did I forget to mention that my TARDIS travels through time and space?” asked the man with false innocence.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

During the meal, the Doctor and Harry talked about the things they had never talked about.

The Doctor asked Harry about his friends and family. The man was adamant that the Dursleys never were and wasn’t very happy when Harry told him about how he had forgiven and kept contact with his cousin.

Harry spoke about his friends and his godson. The traveller found it very funny when Harry told him about the Black tradition of naming children after stars.

The wizard took the opportunity to ask the Doctor about the places he had visited and the adventures he had lived. Harry soon found himself fascinated by the stories.

“So, how does the TARDIS work? Can you go to any time and place? Or does it only take you a number of years into the past?” asked Harry once they were out of the restaurant.

“No, my TARDIS can go anywhere and anywhen.” replied the Doctor.

“It’s very different from a time-turner then.” muttered the teen.

“A time-turner? What’s that?”

“It’s a magical device that allows wizards to travel back in time for a few hours. The Unspeakables are trying to make them go back for a week.”

The Doctor paused for a moment to look at the teen wide eyed.

“You’ve already discovered how to travel in time? That’s impressive! The other humans won’t even think about trying it for thousands of years!” exclaimed the man.

“Well, we’ve been doing it for quite some time now. I mean, it was a very dangerous practice in Merlin’s period but it was still possible. Now, time travel is very regulated by the Ministry of Magic.”

“The Ministry of Magic… I still can’t believe there’s a whole hidden community in Earth and I knew nothing about it.” muttered the Doctor.

“It makes you wonder what else is out there.”

They arrived to the TARDIS and the Doctor opened the door for him, winning a very sweet smile from the younger one.

“It’s beautiful.” said the teen. “The TARDIS, I mean.”

The Doctor smiled at the telepathic purr of the ship on his head and patted the console.

“Yes, my girl is very beautiful. Now, where to?” questioned the man clasping his hands together. “Or when to?”

“I don’t know. I suppose I should go back to tell my friends that I’ll be gone for a while.”

The Doctor nodded and started to touch buttons.

“Where should we appear?”

“Wherever you want. I can apparate us.”

“Apparate?”

“Apparition is an instantaneous way of travel. Like teleportation, I think. Though you need to be at least seventeen and have a license to use it legally.”

“Teleportation. You wizards are really advanced if things like that are common. The… muggles won’t be able to teleport for more than a thousand years.” revealed the Doctor. “So, can all wizards do that? And can you apparate another person? What distances can you cover? Can you apparate anywhere?”

The raven-haired teenager didn’t even bat an eyelash, accustomed to Hermione talking just as fast.

“Yes, all wizards can do it. And yes, we can apparate another person. It’s called side-along apparition. The distance we can apparate, however, depends on how powerful that person is. And we can apparate to nearly everywhere if we have a mental picture of the place.”

“Interesting.”

“You seem to be taking that I’m a wizard pretty well.” risked Harry.

The Doctor paused and looked at him. The man sighed when he saw a spark of fear hidden in the depths of those emerald jewels.

“Harry, I told you I’m an alien and you didn’t even blink. Why would I treat you differently just because you are a wizard?”

The teen blushed and looked away, ashamed.

“I’m sorry. It’s just… it’s the first time I tell someone what I am and the only other non-magical people that knew where my relatives…”

Harry stopped and the Doctor approached him.

“I promise you I won’t change of idea, Harry.”

The wizard accepted the hug and hid his face on the spot between his neck and shoulder.

After a few seconds of silence the Time Lord reluctantly pulled away and continued playing with the TARDIS’ controls.

The Doctor had just announced they were going to land in London when, suddenly, the ship gave a jerk and the Doctor had to grasp the teen’s arms to keep him from falling.

Harry smiled gratefully and the place seemed to be quite again when another jerk sent both to the floor.

When all stopped, the Doctor found himself on top of a heavily blushing Harry. The man smiled down at him and couldn’t help but notice how incredibly exquisite the teen looked like that, blushed and under him. Now he feared he was beginning to think like Jack.

“Hum… Doctor?”

The sweet nearly angelical voice brought him back from the place of his mind where the only thing he could see were the gorgeous body, stunning green eyes and pink full lips…

The Doctor shook his head and cleared his throat before willing himself to pull away.

“Sorry about that. Some landings are smoother than others.” said with his voice a little hoarse.

The man offered his hand to help the teen stand up and gestured for him to go out first. The Time Lord paused at the door for a moment and looked at the TARDIS.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” he didn’t receive an answer. “I love you for that.”

Before closing the door he thought he heard the TARDIS laugh.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

The Doctor wondered if he would end throwing up. The feeling of being squeezed through a straw wasn’t very enjoyable.

“Did I forget to warn you about that?” asked Harry with an innocent face.

He would have fallen for it if not for the mischievous glint of his eyes.

“Yeah, I think so.” replied the Time Lord anyway. “I suppose I had it coming.”

“Well, that was side-along apparition. Are you okay? We didn’t left any body parts on the TARDIS, did we?”

“No, I don’t think so.” said the man thinking he was teasing him.

Though at the relieved look of the teen he understood it was not a joke.

“That was a possibility?” interrogated incredulously.

“Well, yeah. I didn’t think of it because I’m pretty good at apparition and the possibilities of someone splitting with me it’s nearly non-existent, but I just remembered that your biology is different from ours. Though there doesn’t seem to be any damage so you must be compatible with apparition.”

The man looked relieved while the teen gave him a sheepish grin that the Doctor returned with a grin of his own.

After a second for the Doctor to orientate himself, the teen nodded to the north.

“Well, let’s get going. It’s this way.”

Harry guided him until they were in front of a two-floor house with a cared after beautiful garden. The wizard paused a moment to include his companion in the wards and walked to the entrance.

He didn’t even knock on the door; simply opened it and walked in. the Doctor followed and noticed that the house looked pretty normal.

“Doctor, welcome to my house.”

The Time Lord looked at the teen with surprise.

“Harry?” a voice called from the door that led to what the Doctor assumed to be the kitchen.

There stood a strict looking woman with black hair and dark eyes grabbing tightly a wand. He couldn’t help but notice that Harry too was clutching his wand.

“Andromeda, it’s you.” said Harry sounding relieved.

“Harry, can you explain to me why is Barty Crouch standing at your door?”

Harry and the Doctor blinked, but the wizard seemed to catch on to what was going on in a second.

“He’s not, Andromeda. Crouch is dead. This is the Doctor, a friend. I told you I would be meeting him today.”

Why was it that every time Harry spoke the Doctor had more and more questions?

“Oh, they look incredibly alike.”

“I assure you, madame, that whoever that Crouch was I have nothing to do with him.” said the Doctor.

The woman seemed much warmer after that and offered his hand to be shaken. Instead, the Doctor took it to his lips and kissed it, making the woman blush.

“Andromeda Black.”

“The Doctor.”

“The Doctor? Doctor who?”

Ah, so it wasn’t a thing of wizards to react like Harry always did. Only a thing of his very special Harry.

“Just the Doctor.”

The witch looked at the younger of the three, but he simply smiled.

“How long have we been gone, Andromeda?”

“Two hours. I thought it would take you longer.”

The teen smiled again at that but said nothing.

“Well, come in. Do any of you want a cup of tea?” both said no and they all went to the living room.

The Doctor occupied himself for a moment viewing a few pictures on the walls, but for once decided to be patient and ask Harry later. The things he did for this human!

“Where’s Teddy?” asked Harry.

“He’s in his bedroom, playing with that wolf that he likes so much. He’s just woken up.”

Harry nodded and looked at her nervously.

“We’ve come here to tell you that… well, I’m going to travel with the Doctor and… well, I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Andromeda smiled comprehensibly.

“Don’t worry, Harry. I understand. It’s time that you do something for yourself. Just make sure to come back every few months to see Teddy.”

“He can come back here more often than just every few months, madame.” intervened the Doctor before looking at the teen. “We’ll be travelling in my TARDIS so it shouldn’t be a problem to come back anytime. You won’t miss anything.”

Harry understood the message. They could travel to any time in the TARDIS so he could be back fairly often and really don’t miss anything.

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course not.” smiled the Time Lord.

The teen gave the man a hug and a whispered thank you before pulling away. Seeing the knowing glint in the older woman’s eyes he blushed.

“Just enjoy your travels. When are you going to go?”

“Today, after I say goodbye to Teddy.” answered the teen after looking at the Doctor.

The woman sighed. It was evident that she hadn’t expected it to be so soon.

“I’ll miss you. We’ll all miss you.”

“I won’t be gone long enough for any of you to miss me, Andromeda.”

She gave a weak smile and looked seriously at the Doctor.

“Harry and my grandson are all I have, Doctor, so I expect you to keep him safe.”

“Andromeda, I can take care of myself.” protested the teen.

“Yes, I know you can.” conceded the woman. “But you’ve been taking care of yourself and everyone for so long that is about time for someone to take care of you.”

The Doctor smiled at the clear affection on her voice, glad to see that someone worried so much about Harry, and nodded to her.

“I´ll do my very best to keep him safe, madame. That I can promise you.”

“Doctor!”

“Oh, shush now, Harry. You’ll need it with all the trouble you get yourself into.”

“It’s not my fault. Trouble keeps finding me.” pouted the teen.

The Time Lord smiled at that, wondering what kind of trouble his wizard had been into. It sounded so much like himself.

“Do you mind telling the others?” asked the teen. “We wouldn’t get on the road in a year if I had to do it myself.”

“Don’t worry, Harry. I’ll take care of that.”

“Tell everyone not to worry and that I’ll be in contact via two-way book.”

“Two-way book?” questioned the Doctor.

“It’s a device that two friends of mine invented about a year ago. It consists on a net of connected books. I’ll explain it to you later if you want.” promised Harry.

The Doctor nodded with an interested look.

“Well, then, go see your godson.” prompted the witch.

Harry smiled and stood up.

“Do you want to come, Doctor?”

“Why not?” answered the man standing and following the wizard.

They went upstairs and walked through an open door to what seemed to be a nursery. The ceiling of the room, the Doctor observed, was painted like the sky on a starred night and the walls had the picture of a forest with mythical creatures moving around.

On the centre of the room was a crib with a baby that seemed about to start to cry. However, the moment the toddler saw Harry his face lightened and extended his short arms, expecting to be picked up.

Not one to disappoint, Harry lifted his godson and picked up the plush wolf that the infant had been trying to reach.

“There you go, little wolf. No need to cry.” muttered the teen.

The Doctor couldn’t help noticing how good the wizard looked with a baby.

“Teddy, this is the Doctor. He is a very good friend of mine.” said the teen without caring that the baby didn’t really understand it completely. “Doctor, this is my godson, Teddy Lupin.”

The Doctor waved cheerfully at the baby. Teddy looked up at his name but barely glanced in his direction, instead looking around the room.

“What is Padfu?” asked the Time Lord.

Harry froze and looked at him with a weird look.

“What did you say?”

“What is Padfu?” repeated somewhat nervously.

“Where did you hear that?”

“Teddy said it. He’s looking for it.”

“Teddy said it?”

“Yes, eh, I speak baby. I can speak every language in the universe.”

“Every language.” repeated the green-eyed wizard. “That must come in handy when you travel across the universe.”

The man smiled. It was true.

“What is Padfu then?

“Padfoot is another of Teddy’s stuffed animals. A black dog.”

The Doctor looked around the room and found it behind the crib.

“There you go.” mumbled the man giving the toy to the baby.

The boy clapped before taking it and laughed happily.

“I think you’ve already won my godson.” laughed Harry.

The Doctor smiled at the sweet sound. He loved it as much as the sound of his TARDIS.

“It´s my charming personality.” replied making the teen laugh again.

“Do you mind holding him for a moment?” asked the raven-haired teen.

The Time Lord blinked stupidly, though he would never admit it, and nodded hesitantly. It had been a long time since he had had any contact with a child. Well, except for Harry. But he had never been a normal child. And definitely not a baby.

“I can put him on the crib if you are not comfortable with it.” said the teen worried.

“No, no, I don’t mind.” assured the Doctor.

Carefully, the man took the baby from his godfather and started making funny faces. The petite teen marched out of the room leaving the Doctor alone with the baby.

The Doctor continued making funny faces until he saw the baby’s brown hair and golden eyes change, matching his. Stunned, the man looked around for the reason of the change.

Panicking slightly he gazed down at the very amused child and whispered:

“Did you do that?”

The toddler gurgled and the man tried to convince him of changing back.

“I didn’t do anything!” nearly shouted when Harry arrived.

The teen looked around confused until he saw what was wrong and laughed quietly.

“Oh, that. Sorry, I forgot to tell you that Teddy is a metamorphomagus.” said the teen timidly.

“Metamorphomagus?”

“It’s a magical talent that allows a person to change their appearance even to the point of taking other person’s exact form. Though it’s very unusual because you have to be born with it and it’s only passed down some specific families. There are fourteen families in the world with that ability, the Black family being one of them, but right now it’s only active on three persons in the world.”

The Doctor looked at him, his eyebrows high.

“You were going to ask anyway.” shrugged the teen blushing.

The man smiled and looked back at the toddler.

“So, can he control it?”

“No, he’s still too young. Normally his hair changes with his emotions, but when I pick him up his eyes tend to change to match mine.”

“Really? I didn’t notice it before.” said the man softly.

He knew why that had happened. While he was a very observant person, he had been too distracted by the picture Harry made with a baby to notice anything else.

“Well, it’s not so noticeable.” said the teen. “You seem pretty good with children.”

“It’s been a long time since I last held one.” revealed the Doctor. “But, as we’ve said before, I have a charming personality. I’m simply irresistible. Even to babies.”

“Irresistible, eh? You’re very confident on yourself.”

The Doctor grinned charmingly and Harry shook his head with a fond smile.

Teddy gurgled extending his arms towards Harry.

“Even if he likes me, you are still his favourite person.” said the man handing him the baby.

“He knows me nearly since his birth. But, you know? He must like you a lot because I’m the only person whose appearance he has ever imitated voluntarily till today.”

However, the Doctor wasn’t paying his words so much attention. He was looking at the toddler with fascination and, inwardly, longing.

Teddy still had his hair colour but his eyes had changed to match Harry’s nearly perfectly. Would a child of Harry and himself look like that?

The question surprised him and the Doctor shook his head to free it from those thoughts and decided to change the subject.

“Where did you go?” asked referring to the sort trip out of the nursery in which he had left Teddy and the Doctor alone.

“Oh, yes. I forgot!”

The wizard gently placed his protesting godson back on the crib and took something out of a pocket.

He fastened it loosely around the baby’s neck and the Time Lord was able to see it was a pendant. It was a leather string with a simple silvery circle that the Doctor strongly suspected represented a full moon.

“It has protection runes crafted all over so that he won’t get seriously hurt by anything and is charmed so that only I can take it off him.”

“A little paranoid, isn’t it?”

“As one of my fourth year teachers likes to say: constant vigilance!”

“A little paranoid, isn’t he?” reformulated the amused man.

“As he says, it’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you. He was an auror and he was the one that trapped half of Azkaban’s prisoners.”

“Auror? Azkaban?”

“Azkaban is the wizarding world’s prison.” explained shivering slightly. “And an auror is… like a muggle policeman, you could say. Though don’t ever say that in front of one of them, they get offended. Actually, that’s the career that the wizarding world expected me to take.”

“The wizarding world expected you to become an auror?” asked the Doctor with curiosity and a little suspicion.

“I’m… well known through the wizarding world.” answered the teen evasively.

Luckily for him, his godson had gotten bored of trying to eat the pendant and demanded their attention.

“How much does he understand me, Doctor?”

“He understands you rather well. He doesn’t catch some concepts but he’ll get the gist of whatever you say to him.”

Harry nodded in understanding and crouched in front of the crib.

“Okay, so… Teddy.” called the wizard looking at the toddler in the eyes. “I’m going to be away for some time. I don’t know how much.” the baby’s eyes began to water. “Hey, no need to cry. I’ll be back soon to see you, okay, kiddo? Grandma will take care of you whilst I’m gone. I’ll travel with the Doctor and I promise we’ll be back soon.”

Harry knew that he didn’t understand everything he was saying, but he seems to catch on what was going on just as the Doctor had predicted.

“I love you, little wolf.”

“He loves you too.” whispered the Doctor on his ear.

Harry turned to him, feeling very self-conscious about the little space between them.

“Did he say that?”

“Yes, though he didn’t need to.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I don’t think it’s possible not to love you.”

Harry blushed and tried to look away in shame but the Doctor stopped him by delicately grabbing his chin.

Both looked at each other on the eyes and Harry waited very quietly whilst the Time Lord slowly leaned forward.

A happy squeal broke the moment and both separated abruptly, falling to the ground.

A quick look to the toddler was followed by an awkward moment of staring at one another.

Clearing his throat and smiling the Doctor stood up and offered his hand to help the teen up. This movement pushed Harry against his chest and both flushed again.

The man was rather sure Teddy had done it on purpose.

“We should get going.”

The statement got him a nod from Harry. After making sure the baby didn’t need anything, the godfather kissed him on the forehead and ruffled his hair with fondness.

The Doctor followed the teen downstairs, leaving a very entertained metamorphomagus with his stuffed animals.

Once they were back at the first floor, the Time Lord stopped to stare at some more photos. Those, unlike the others he had seen, where moving.

“They’re magical photographs. Wizards use cameras the same way that muggles, though ours are powered by magic instead of electricity. They don’t move until you dip them on a special potion. And then, there you have them. Moments of a life trapped inside a paper.” murmured Harry when he saw what he was looking at.

“Who are they?” asked the man in a low voice, fairly sure of already knowing the answer.

He was gazing at a photo of a young couple. A read-head woman in the arms of a dark haired man, both with big happy smiles.

“My parents, James and Lily Potter.” answered the teen confirming his suspicions. “Everyone says that I’m like a copy of my father with the eyes of my mother.”

It was evident to the Doctor that, although evidently related, the teen didn’t really look so much like them.

Harry was shorter than his father, with much more delicate looking features and a slender figure full of curves that gave him an almost feminine appearance. The hair was different too. In the picture James wore his hair much shorter and, where the father’s was a dark brown nearly black, Harry’s was black as ink.

Finally, there were the eyes. Yes, Lily had pretty green eyes but Harry’s were a shade or two lighters and a lot more bright. There was no one with eyes such as Harry’s.

No, he definitely didn’t think they were so alike. And that’s what he said to Harry.

“No one has ever said that to me. I’ve always been compared to them.” said the teen with a lost glance at the photo. “Don’t take me wrong, I like having at least something in common with them. It’s just that, after a while, it starts to get annoying.”

The Doctor nodded and looked at the rest of the photos, trying to find something with which lightening the mood.

“And who’s that man?”

Harry looked at the pointed picture where a younger Harry and a man in with shaggy black hair were sat laughing in a kitchen and smiled sadly.

“That’s Sirius Black, my godfather.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry.”

“He looks like a good man.”

Harry nodded absently and the Doctor picked another picture.

“She’s a metamorphomagus, isn’t she?” questioned the Time Lord seeing the young woman’s hair change continually.

“Yes.”

“Teddy’s mother?”

“Yeah, and Andromeda’s daughter. Nymphadora Tonks. She preferred being called Tonks.” added the teen.

“Can I assume then that the man besides her is Teddy’s father?”

“Yes. He’s Remus Lupin, my dad and Sirius’ other best friend. He… he was a werewolf.”

“A werewolf? Like a real werewolf?” wondered the Doctor excitedly.

“Yes. He transformed into one every full moon. It was rather hard on him, but he was a wonderful man. If you want I’ll let you one of my old school books with information on werewolves.”

The Time Lord nodded eagerly and Harry chuckled. After a few seconds of contemplating the photos in silence, both walked to the entrance hall.

“Andromeda?”

“Oh, Harry. Are you going already?” asked the woman coming out of the kitchen.

“Yes, we’re going now. I’ve already said goodbye to Teddy. He’s in his crib playing with his toys.”

“Okay.” said the woman in a quiet voice.

“I’ll come back soon, Andromeda. I promise. I don’t want to miss Teddy’s life. And let me know if you need anything.”

The Black nodded and gave the boy an affectionate hug and a pat on the cheek.

“See you soon, then. Are you sure you are bringing everything you’ll need?”

“Sure. Everything is in my purse.”

“Enjoy your travels.”

“I will.”

“And you, Doctor,” continued looking at the Time Lord. “I expect you to keep that promise.”

The man nodded seriously and offered his hand for Harry to take, which the teen did without even thinking of it.

After a last farewell to the witch, the Doctor and Harry left the house and walked to the TARDIS, still holding hands.

Once inside the ship, the Doctor looked at him inquiringly.

“Where to, Doctor? Or when to?”

The Doctor beamed at him and dragged him to the controls of the TARDIS, but suddenly stopped.

“I forgot something.” said the man.

“What?” asked Harry curiously.

“Well, you see… Today I saved the universe with the help of some friends. We had been a year fighting, but it’s been only about two months for the universe. It’s a long story that I’ll tell you in another moment. The case is that as soon as I finished I came to see you. But then, you weren’t there. I found your letter. After that I needed to make sure you had survived so I travelled to today and found you. I told Jack and Martha that I would be back soon and give them a ride home.”

“Well, then why don’t you give them that ride home now? You can go to  minutes after you left, no?”

“Yes, that’s what we’re going to do.” exclaimed the man.

Harry smiled but was startled when the Doctor took his hands between his.

“We, Harry, okay? There’s no more ‘you’ from now on. Wherever we go, we go together.”

Harry turned red but nodded firmly, getting a smug smile in return.

“You know what?”

The teen negated with his head when the Doctor pressed a little more their bodies, used his left hand to caress the small of his back and the other to lovingly stroke his face.

“Remember that afternoon in which you told me about a girl that kissed you?” Harry nodded weakly. “Do you remember what you said later?” the teen gulped and closed his eyes. “It was barely a year ago for me, but I’ve been aching to do this since then.”

The wizard looked wide-eyed at the Time Lord who leaned forward and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips.

There was no way that he wouldn’t have his kiss after what happened at Teddy’s nursery.

The Doctor couldn’t believe how wonderful kissing his emerald felt. He had imagined it, but reality was so much better. Especially after Harry’s gasp of surprise that allowed the man to enter his tongue in that moist cavern.

The feeling became even more incredible when that shy tongue responded and started to play with his.

The kiss lasted till both of them were panting and needed to breathe. The Doctor joined their foreheads and kissed his lips softly one last time.

With an even brighter smile that Harry couldn’t help but return with a tinge of red on his cheeks, the Doctor reluctantly pulled away and went to the controls of the TARDIS.

This time the landing was smoother and Harry only needed a little help to keep himself balanced at his feet.

The Doctor winked at the teen and started to walk to the door when it was pulled open from outside.

“Doctor! Where did you go!? We’ve been waiting for you for two hours!” was what Harry heard a woman say.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Doctor paused midway to the door and they watched it open fully. A pretty dark-skinned woman entered followed closely by a man.

Both of them paused when they saw Harry standing on the platform with the TARDIS’ controls.

“Who’s he?” asked the woman abruptly.

The man beside her looked Harry from head to toe and whistled in appreciation before walking to Harry with a charming smile and an extended arm.

“I wonder the same. I’m Captain Jack Harkness. Who are you, little beauty?”

Harry accepted the offered hand with a blush at being called ‘little beauty’, but rather than the handshake he had being expecting, the captain took it to his lips and pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

“Jack, stop it.” growled the Doctor unexpectedly.

“I’m only saying hello.” said the man with feigned confusion.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the captain, surprising him. Jack couldn’t remember a time in which the Time Lord had acted so aggressive towards him, even when he flirted with Rose.

“Doctor, who’s that?” interrupted the only woman on board.

“Oh, yeah! Presentations!” exclaimed the traveller brightly once more. “These are Martha Jones and Jack Harkness, they’ve travelled with me. Jack, Martha, this is Harry.”

The last name was said with gentleness in an unusually soft tone for the Doctor.

“Hi.” waved the teen shyly.

“And what is he doing here?” asked Martha with jealousy.

“Harry’s going to travel with me.” responded the man happily not noticing or—more probably—ignoring her tone. “After we leave you two at home, of course.”

“At home?”

“Yes, I know what you’re going to say. About wanting to be a doctor and take care of your family after all that’s happened. Don’t worry, it’s okay. I understand it.” said the Time Lord lightly.

“But... but…”

“Did you change your mind?”

The man’s gaze was sharp after that question, but unreadable. None of the other three was sure of the answer he wanted to hear.

“What? No, of course not. But…”

“Then no buts.” concluded the Doctor redirecting his attention to the buttons.

In an instant they were in their way and soon the TARDIS gave a jerk. Harry would have fallen if not for a pair of arms catching him. He took a moment to regain his balance and looked up to see it was Jack who had caught him.

“Hem, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” said the man easily.

“You can let me go now.” stated Harry after a few seconds.

In response the man’s arms tightened around him and his smile grew.

“Jack, hands off him. Now.” demanded the Doctor with a dark expression.

The Captain released the teen and held up his hands. The TARDIS made another sudden movement, more forceful this time, and Harry and Jack both crashed to the ground.

“I was only preventing this from happening.” claimed Jack when the ship finally landed.

Martha snickered.

“Of course you were.” The Doctor rolled his eyes while helping Harry up. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, perfect.”

“I feel so loved right now.” said sarcastically Jack standing from the floor.

 The Doctor ignored him and the man pouted.

“What took you so long to come for us?” asked the woman.

“We went to Paris. It was lunch time.” was the easy answer.

“You went to Paris? And you didn’t even think of inviting us? It was lunch time for us too.”

The Doctor gave her a pointed look and kept silent.

“Well, we’ve arrived, Martha.”

The woman sighed and nodded.

“Well, I suppose it’s the end of our travels.” She sighed again. “It’s been an honour, Doctor.”

“It’s been an honour, Martha.” agreed the Time Lord.

“We’ll meet again, won’t we?”

“Of course.” smiled the man. “We’ll meet again, Martha Jones.”

“Take this. And you better use it to keep in touch.”

The Doctor took the phone that the human offered him and she smiled before turning to the captain.

“Jack, I expect you to keep in touch too. I want to hear from you soon.”

The captain smiled widely.

“Of course, Martha.”

Finally the woman turned to Harry, who had put a little distance between the three and himself to give them at least some semblance of privacy.

 “Take care of him, okay? He needs someone to keep him out of trouble.”

“Hey!” protested the Doctor with false indignation.

“I attract trouble like a magnet so I can’t promise anything but to try.”

She nodded and turned. When she was at the door, she paused.

“And, Harry, enjoy your time with the Doctor. Travelling the universe with him is the most amazing thing that a human can experiment.” advised surprising him.

“I do not doubt that.”

Both smiled at the other, though the teen a little more shyly, and she departed.

“Okay, so next stop is yours, Jack.” announced the Doctor after staring at the door for a few seconds.

“So… how did you two meet?” inquired Jack while the Doctor put them on their way.

“I was six when I met the Doctor for the first time.” answered Harry surprising the ex-time agent. “We were in a park and he looked sad. I wanted to help him, so I approached.”

“And, then, you gave me your stars.” Added the man from where he was directing the TARDIS this time in a quieter trip.

Jack saw how the teen blushed a little and then looked away, making him smile at how cute it was.

“You gave me a star too.” rebutted Harry fingering his necklace.

“And I’m going to give you the rest of them from now on.”

Jack had to avert his gaze. He had never seen the Doctor act this way with anyone and he knew that it was another part of the Doctor he could easily fall in love with.

“And you? How did you meet?” queried suddenly the raven-head.

“I tried to swindle him and his companion at the time. Then we kind of saved the human race from being transformed into a deformed bunch of masked flesh by an alien ambulance, he saved me from dying and I travelled with them for some time.”

Harry blinked.

“It’s a long story.” stated Jack with a lopsided grin.

“I’ll tell you another time about it, Harry.” promised the Doctor.

Harry nodded before turning an amused grin in the other man’s direction.

“You tried to swindle a Time Lord?”

“I didn’t know what he was. I thought he was a Time Agent.”

“Time Agent?”

“Jack is from the fifty first century.”

“Wow, that’s a little far, isn’t it?”

“For humans, yes. They learned to travel through time. But we can travel farther than just the fifty first century.” said the Doctor.

“So muggles managed to learn time-travelling.” said Harry. “That’s pretty incredible for them.”

“Muggles? I’ve heard that term before. I’m not sure where, though.” muttered the Time Agent.

Thankfully they landed then and the man soon forgot everything about Harry’s slip.

“Here we are.”

“I hope you have a good travel. Don’t let the Doctor get you in too much trouble, okay?” Harry smiled and nodded. “Then, I’ll see you another time.”

Jack gave the Doctor a military salute that had both of them laughing and a quick or not so quick—even less in the Doctor’s opinion— hug to the teen before going to the door.

Harry bit his lower lip and looked at the Time Lord with a question in his eyes. With a resigned smile, the man nodded and the wizard quickly called the captain.

“Why don’t you come with us?”

The Doctor didn’t specially want to share his little emerald’s attention with someone else, but he wanted Harry to be happy and so he wouldn’t say anything.

Besides, Jack was good company to have around and would be able to help keep Harry safe if they ran into trouble, which was bound to happen.

The Time Lord was surprised when Jack shook his head with a smile.

“No, I think it would be best for me to remain here. At least for some time. I’ve been thinking about what you told me, Doctor, and you’re right. I have a team here and they’re my responsibility. I can’t let them now.”

Harry smiled in understanding, surprising the captain, and then got a mischievous glint on his eyes.

“Maybe next time? When we meet again you can come with us.” Seeing the conflict on the other man when he glanced at the Doctor, Harry added: “You can consider it a compensation of sorts for the two hours waiting. And I need someone that knows the Doctor well enough to tell me about his most embarrassing moments.”

Jack cracked a smile at the joke and winked in the teen’s direction after the mock glare the Time Lord sent his way.

“If you put it that way, how can I say no?” finally conceded the captain.

The grin Harry gave him was blinding and Jack sighed silently when he saw the look of love and wonder the Doctor was giving him.

Jack couldn’t blame him, though. The teen was a beautiful sight to behold and just plain breathtaking when smiling.

“Now that that’s settled…” started the Doctor once Jack was gone. “Where to?” inquired with renewed enthusiasm. “We have all of time and space. Is there any time you want to visit specially?

The wizard looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Well, there’s not a time, but there’s a place. I’ve always wanted to see a star from nearby.”

“You see one every day. The sun’s a star.” replied the Doctor with amusement shining in his eyes.

“You know what I mean, Doctor!” exclaimed Harry.

“Well, then, which star?” asked the Doctor slyly.

“Sirius.”

“Sirius, the Dog Star.” nodded the Doctor taking charge of the controls again. “I know your godfather’s name was Sirius but is there any other reason you want to see that one?”

Sensing nothing except curiosity from the older man, Harry shrugged.

“The only Christmas I had with Sirius we left the house we were in without anyone knowing and went to a field to look at the stars. He knew the name of every constellation you can see from the Earth and he knew I love the stars. He told me that, if I ever missed him, I only had to look at his star and I would know he was watching over me. He had a sappy day.” chuckled weakly.

“I’m sorry you lost him so soon.”

“I am too, but I try not to dwell on it. He would have been disappointed if I had let that take me down.”

“That’s very wise.” stated the man solemnly.

Harry blushed and looked away.

“Let’s go, then. We have a star to visit.” clapped the Doctor.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

A strange feeling of calmness filled him seeing that enormous burning ball of gas. It was magnificent and it felt… ancient. There was no other word to describe it.

His senses were picking up a lot of energy coming from the sphere and it felt a lot like the energy of the sun’s rays.

When his eyes started to gather moisture he closed them.

“I have my own star now, Sirius. You would have liked him. So, hum, you don’t need to watch over me anymore. I… thank you.” whispered.

With that said, the teen opened his eyes and closed the door of the TARDIS. Taking a deep breath, Harry turned around and smiled softly at the man’s concerned face.

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For taking me to see the stars… for taking me with you.”

The Doctor smiled happily.

“You haven’t seen anything yet.”

The wizard laughed.

“Where do you want to go now?”

“Hum, I don’t know. Why don’t you surprise me, Doctor?”

The Doctor’s smile broadened at that and he began to touch the buttons, jumping with excitement.

“I’ll put the controls at random. It’ll be a surprise to both where it is that we land.” Harry smiled at that, feeling just as excited as the Time Lord.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

The TARDIS landed smoothly and both laughed. A new adventure was waiting for them, new places, new people, new discoveries… it was so exciting!

“Let’s see where we are.” exclaimed the Doctor running to the door and exiting. “Harry! You have to see this!”

The wizard didn’t lose a moment and run after him, curious about what he was going to encounter.

The first he took notice of was the cold and then the snow covering everything. They were in a mountain, surrounded by the whiteness of the ice. Before them, there was an incredible sight of a natural bridge with icicles dangling from its sides.

“Snow. Real snow. Look at the sight. What do you think?”

“Doctor… it’s… it’s beautiful.” muttered the awed teen.

“Yes, it is.”

They spent some minutes in silence, simply enjoying the sight they had been greeted by in this planet. Sadly, the Doctor noticed he was trembling from the cold and tried to offer his coat.

“Don’t worry, Doctor.”

Harry waved his hand around them and warmth spread through their bodies. The Doctor gasped in surprise and looked at his companion.

“You did that? What did you do?”

“It’s a simple warming charm.” said the teen timidly.

“Fascinating.” That reaction reminded Harry strongly of Arthur Weasley every time he saw a new muggle thing and, inadvertently, made him relax.

“Where are we, Doctor?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never been to this planet…”

A loud rumbling sound made them look up.

“Is that a…”

“…a skyrocket.” finished the Doctor scowling at the sky.

“Do we follow it?”

“Yes… Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“I don’t know. It’s like… like a song.”

“A song? I don’t hear it.”

Harry followed the Doctor as he seemed to follow something, a song that only he could hear.

“Do you hear it now? It’s getting stronger.”

“Really? I still can’t… wait.”

Harry stopped when he felt a faint presence caressing his occlumency walls and closed his eyes, not seeing the other man’s expression.

Carefully and hesitantly, the young wizard lowered his mental walls, letting the presence into the more superficial layer of his mind, and heard it. A song. A sad and lonely song that brought tears to his eyes.

“I can hear it.” whispered opening his eyes and blinking to stop the tears from falling. “I can hear it in my mind.”

“Telepathy.” breathed the Doctor.

The man walked quicker and in a few minutes, they found him. Harry was surprised when they saw a body lying on the snow. The humanoid being had a bald head, a face that reminded him of a sparrow and a white sphere clutched on a hand.

“What is he, Doctor?” asked Harry nearing the alien.

“An Ood. They’re half telepaths.” the man took out one of those devices the muggle healers usually used. A stethoscope. “I don’t know where his heart is. I don’t even know if he has a heart. Talk to him. Keep him awake.”

“Hello, I’m Harry and this is the Doctor. Can you tell me your name?”

“My designation is Delta Fifty.” said a voice coming from the white orb.

“It’s a translator.” explained the Doctor seeing the surprise of the teen. “He’s been shot.”

“Shot? By who?”

“I don’t know, but it has to have been near or he wouldn’t be still alive.”

“Well… Delta Fifty, don’t worry. We’re going to help you, okay?” whispered Harry caressing his bald head whilst the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to scan the Ood. “You were the one singing, weren’t you?”

“You can hear the song?” asked the alien slowly.

“Yes. I think it’s beautiful.”

“Who did this to you?” questioned the Doctor.

“The Circle must be broken.” replied the Ood.

“The Circle?”

“The Circle must be broken.” repeated.

“What’s the Circle?” tried Harry.

“The Circle must be broken.”

“Yes, the Circle must be broken, but what’s the Circle? Delta Fifty, what’s the Circle!?” insisted the Doctor.

“The Circle…”

Suddenly the Ood launched forward with eyes red as blood and a fierce glare. Both travellers jumped back without a thought and the teen had his wand in hand and pointed at the being in an instant.

A few seconds later, the Ood fell back to the snow covered ground and the Doctor approached cautiously.

“He’s dead.” declared after checking the body.

Not receiving an answer, the Doctor looked to where Harry was standing and saw him gripping his wand firmly, with his hands shaking a little. His eyes were wide and staring directly at the corpse. The man also noticed that he was breathing a little faster.

“Harry? What is it?” the Doctor gently blocked his view of the body.

“I… i-it’s nothing. I’m sorry. It’s just… those eyes took me by surprise. I don’t have good memories of people with red eyes and didn’t expect this. It shocked me a little, I guess.”

“Who do you know with red eyes?” asked the Doctor with raised eyebrows.

“The man that killed my parents. He was a wizard and he had red eyes.” answered absentmindedly the wizard walking around him to approach the Ood’s dead body.

“Had?” The Doctor hadn’t missed the past tense.

“He’s dead now.” was the soft answer.

Harry closed the Ood’s unseen eyes and muttered a sorry before turning to the Time Lord.

“Can we talk about this another time? I’m not… I’m not ready yet.”

The man nodded and took his hand, brushing its back with his lips.

“Just know that, whatever it was that happened, you did what you thought was best. You are not to blame for that.”

Harry nodded weakly, but otherwise kept silent about the topic.

“What are the Oods, Doctor?

“They’re servants. Servants used by the humans of the 42nd century.”

“Servants…” sighed Harry. “What happened to his eyes… what does it mean?”

“Trouble.” replied the Doctor. “You still can back down. We can choose another destiny.”

“You’re kidding, right? You can’t present me a mystery and then try to take it away!” protested Harry with a mock glare. “And, anyway, I’m sure trouble will find us wherever and whenever we go. We might us well enjoy it.”

The Doctor grinned widely.

“Do you have any idea of how perfect you are?” breathed the man without even thinking.

Harry blinked.

“What?”

“Nothing.” said quickly the man realizing his slip.

It seemed the filter between his brain and his mouth didn’t work when it concerned Harry. He inwardly cursed for making an idiot out of himself.

“We should get going.” said abruptly.

The teen blinked again and nodded slowly. All of a sudden, his little emerald’s brow furrowed and he seemed a little sad.

“The song has stopped. He… sang till death.”

“Yes, he did. It was his mind crying for help” The Doctor gently guided him away from the corpse and in a random direction.

“Shouldn’t we bury him?”

“The snow will do it.” was the Time Lord’s reply. “The Oods are completely pacific, servile even. Except last time I saw them. There was a force, like a presence, strong enough to control them all.”

“Do I want to know what that force was?”

“Probably not. How is it that you couldn’t hear his song and then you were able to?”

“There’s a branch of magic called occlumency. It’s the ability to shield one’s mind. It stops anyone from reading our minds or, in case of a really good occlumens, from even noticing there’s a mind at all.”

“Impressive. And can all wizards become occlumens?”

“No. Every wizard can learn a low level of occlumency, but that’s not enough to be an occlumens. It’s a hard branch to master and it requires to be a powerful wizard or witch in addition to having the predisposition, the talent and a good source to learn it from.”

“So you were shielding your mind? That’s why you couldn’t hear it at first?”

“Yes. I couldn’t hear it until I lowered the barriers protecting my superficial mind.” agreed Harry walking besides him. “Occlumency, like everything, has a counterpart. It’s called legilimency and it allows a wizard to read another’s mind and, in case of really powerful or talented ones, to implement suggestions or create false memories. Those are the two principal branches of what we refer to as ‘mind magic’.”

“Those are impressive skills, Harry. So if you’re an occlumens, are you a… what’s the word, legilimens?”

“Yeah, that’s the word. And yes, I am. Though I don’t normally use it, I think the mind is something private.” confirmed a bit nervous.

“Hey, don’t worry, Harry. I’m a telepath, remember? I can read minds if I want too.” Harry nodded relaxing. “So I wonder if your occlumency and legelemency work the same on aliens. It seemed to work on the Ood. I suppose we’ll discover it someday.” continued the man with his usual enthusiasm.“Now, tell me about runes. You mentioned them before.”

Harry was about to launch himself at a very detailed explanation when they saw something in the distance.

“A settlement of Oods?”

“Or of humans with Ood servants.” replied the older.

“Homenum revelio.” chanted Harry. “There are humans there. Many. “ said relying the information gathered by his magic. “I cannot say how many exactly, there are two much for that.”

“Why did you say that? Homenum revelio?”

“Wizards and witches need words to help direct the spells to do what they want. It has the same purpose as a wand: channelling the magic. These spell reveals the presence of humans.”

“But you didn’t use them before. You didn’t use your wand for all you did at the TARDIS or to apparate us. And you didn’t utter a word neither.” pointed the Doctor.

“If a witch or wizard is sufficiently powerful, he or she can learn to channel the magic wordlessly or wordlessly using just the intent. After all, we are the channels of magic.”

“That is a very informative statement.” hummed the Doctor. “Now, back to the subject of the rumes…”

Harry smiled as they began the way to the settlement and started to explain about them. It wasn’t hard because the Doctor always seemed to soak up every bit of information like a sponge.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Here are your informative pamphlets, with vouchers, 3D tickets and a map of the resort.” We heard a woman saying. “My name is Solana, marketing director, I’m sure we’ve all talked by the videophone. Please, follow me.”

“Sorry, we’re late.” interrupted the Doctor running to her. “Don’t bother, the guards let us pass.”

“And you are?”

“The Doctor and Harry Black.” Nobody noticed the moment of hesitation before he named the last surname. He hadn’t noted that he didn’t know his companions surname until then. The Doctor showed a white piece of paper at the woman.

“We represent the Black Intergalactic Corporation.”

“You must have fallen from my list. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” assured the woman.

“Well, Mr Black, if you and your father would be so kind as to come with me…”

“Oh, no, no, no, we’re not…” choked hurriedly the Doctor.

“He’s not my father.”

“No.”

“Not at all.”

“Of course.”

Harry didn’t understand the smile the woman sent their way, but the Doctor did and had to stop a blush from forming on his cheeks.

“Here are your informative pamphlets, the vouchers are inside. Now, if you come with me the executive suits are warm and comfy.”

A loud alarm sounded suddenly. Harry’s wand was in his hand in an instant and he blushed when he saw the Doctor had noticed, but didn’t return it to its holster.

“Oh, what’s that?” asked the Time Lord. “It seems like an alarm.”

“It’s just the signal of the end of the work shift. By here, fast.”

Harry saw the Doctor shrug and followed him inside the building. He pocketed his wand, but kept an eye out for anything strange. He didn’t believe Solana’s explanation.

“We’ll have to talk about why you are so jumpy.” whispered the man in his ear.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

They were in what in his time would be considered a modern room, but Harry had no idea what it was considered in the time they were in. there were two Ood offering drinks to the guest and another three standing in a row at the centre.

“As you can see, the Oods are happy to serve and we maintain them in compounds of the highest standard. Here, in the double O, we like to think of the Oods as our loyal friends. We maintain the Oods healthy, safe and educated. We don’t just breed them; we make them better. Because at the end, what is an Ood but a reflection of us? If your Ood is happy, then you’ll be happy.”

People clapped at Solana’s speech and the wizard had to hide the deep shame he felt at that moment. He had understood what she really meant. The Oods were slaves. Slaves of the human race. It seemed even so far in the future that hadn’t changed.

“Now I would like to point out an innovation of Ood Operations. We’ve introduced a new varied pack with the translating ball of the Ood. You can all have the standard setting: how are you today, Ood?”

“I’m perfectly well, thank you.” answered one of the Oods standing at the centre.

“Or perhaps, after a stressful day, a little caprice for the gentlemen: and how are you, Ood?”

“A lot better now that I see you.” answered a feminine voice.

The youngest traveller looked at the Doctor and found him inspecting everything with slightly arched brows. One would say he seemed a little detached of what they were seeing, but Harry knew better. He could see the sharpness hidden deep in his eyes. The man didn’t like what he was seeing.

“And the comedy classic: Ood, you dropped something.” finished the human woman.

“No.” was the dry response.

When everyone laughed as if it had been funny, Harry decided it. The future humans were even more stupid than the past humans.

“All that for only five additional credits. The details are in your browsers. Now there’s plenty more drink and food so don’t hold back.”

Everyone started to chat and the Doctor took out and put on a pair of reading glasses while walking to a control panel in front of a screen and starting to tap on it.

“Ah, correct. The Oodsphere. I’ve been in this solar system before, yeah. Ages ago. Close to the Sensesphere System. Broadening…”

The screen changed and red points appeared before red lines appeared to connect them, forming two triangles and a rectangle. Then, new lines appeared and the three figures were linked at the centre by a circle.

“It’s the year 4126. It’s the second great and hearty Human Empire.” informed the Doctor.

“4126, that’s incredible.”

“It’s good, isn’t it?” smiled the man.

“How is the Earth now?”

“Pretty full. As you can see the Empire extends by three galaxies. Though I don’t know about your people, as you’re the first I’ve encountered.

“It’s brilliant. I’ve lived between muggles and they’re always saying that there’s not a lot of time left for our planet. The global warming, the floods, the bees that disappear…”

“Yeah, about the bees that’s… odd.” recognized the man.

“What I mean is… My kind thinks we still have a lot of time left. And I can see that they’re right, but it’s a little unsettling to think that the same humans that are destroying our world will be in so many places. They’re everywhere now. I mean, is that good? Are they like explorers or more like viruses?”

“Sometimes I wonder.”

“The most strange is that my people have allowed it. They wouldn’t, so why haven’t they done something?”

“I think I know where you’re going. I’m sure they’re okay, Harry. They’re probably still hidden. Don’t worry. Maybe someday we’ll encounter one and you can ask.”

Harry sighed and nodded. The Doctor was right. It was of no use to wonder about something if that wouldn’t get a response. They would have to wait and see.

“What are those circles?”

“They’re Ood distribution centres.”

“In three galaxies?”

The youngest frowned and walked to an Ood, touching his arm lightly to get his attention before talking.

“Hello, sorry for bothering you but would you mind telling me if there are any free Oods? Are there Oods running wild living somewhere?

“All the Oods are born to serve. Otherwise we would die.” answered the being.

“But didn’t you start free?” asked Harry seeing that the Doctor had followed him and was now listening intently. “What were you like before the humans?”

The Ood’s demeanour changed suddenly, he stood more uptight. Only a trained eye would have noticed, so both the Doctor and Harry did.

“The Circle.”

“What do you mean? What Circle?” asked sharply the Doctor.

“The Circle. The Circle is…”

Just then the head of marketing spoke again and the Ood stopped.

“Ladies and gentlemen. All Ood to the hospitality posts, please.”

Harry inwardly cursed and the Doctor took off his glasses, pocketing them again.

“I’ve had enough chattering.” said the man. “Do you want to get out of the threshed way?”

“A rough visit to the Oodsphere? Works for me.” added Harry looking at the map the man held.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Ood shift 8 beginning. Repeat: Ood shift 8 beginning now.” was heard as the Doctor used his screwdriver to open a gate.

They walked through the snowy path and climbed a ladder to look the compound from above.

Groups of Ood exited a building, surrounded by armed men. One of the poor creatures fell to the floor. One of the men approached with a whip and lashed at the air.

“Up. I said up!”

“I knew it. Servants? Humans don’t know how to have them. They’re slaves.” Muttered Harry disgusted and horrified.

The whip didn’t bring good memories to the wizard’s mind and he felt compassion for the Oods. The Doctor didn’t take his eyes of the beings. Humans never changed it seemed.

The whip lashed two more times at the poor Ood and Harry had to control his magic. They couldn’t bring themselves to attention yet.

“Last time I saw the Oods I didn’t think about this. Nor did I ask.”

“That does not seem like you.”

“I was busy. So much that I couldn’t save them. I had to let the Ood die.”

“I’m sorry.” Harry knew what it felt like not having another option but letting someone behind.

“Me too. I think I owe them one.”

Surprisingly, his little emerald smiled.

“Well, then let’s find a way to help them.” the Doctor smiled a little. “That seems to be the boss.”

“Let’s get out of the way. Come on.”

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Doctor.” called Harry seeing a door to his left that the man had walked past, two engrossed on the map to even notice it.

With the sonic screwdriver, the door opened in a few seconds. The place didn’t seem to have great security.

“I like the glasses, by the way.” commented lightly the wizard remembering having though of that before. “They look good on you.”

“What wouldn’t look good on me?” the Time Lord smirked at him.

Harry laughed lowly and the Doctor winked.

The inside of the building was poorly illuminated and filled with thousands of big blue metal boxes.

“Ood exportation.” explained the Doctor. “Do you see that? It’s used to lift the containers and carry them to the skyrocket’s stowage. Ready to fly through the three galaxies.”

As they watched, an enormous metal claw descended and took one of the blue boxes.

“This containers are filled with…”

“What do you think?”

The Doctor approached one and pulled a door open. The first thing they noticed was the stink. Harry looked sadly at the Ood. Just another race enslaved by the humans. Just more victims of his own race.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Harry gazed sadly at the beings in front of him.

“How many of them do you think there are in every one of these?” asked Harry.

“A thousand? More?”

The Doctor was looking at the rows of Ood before them with slightly wide eyes and answered without even looking at him.

“A great empire constructed by slavery.”

“It’s not so different from your time.”

“The worse is that’s true. Though we’re trying to change that in the wizarding world.” admitted the green-eyed teen.

“There are slaves in the wizarding world?”

“There were, yes. Wizards forgot history and the bond that house elves have with them was twisted.”

“House elves? You mean like elves with pointy ears, incommensurable beauty and nearly more pride than brain?” teased the man.

“More like pointy ears, small stature and subservient nature. I think you confused them with the elves of the Lord of the Rings.” A weak chuckle escaped them at that.

Harry looked at the Oods and couldn’t help seeing all the similarities the with house elves.

“Don’t you want to be free?” asked the wizard.

“I don’t understand the concept, Mister” replied en Ood tilting his head to the side almost curiously.

“What’s with those white balls? Are they born with them? It doesn’t seem likely. And why do they have all to be connected?” wondered aloud the younger one.

“Ood, tell me. The Circle means something to you?” inquired the Time Lord.

“The Circle must be broken.”

All of the Oods talked at the same time.

“That’s a little creepy.”

“But what is it? What’s The Circle?”

“The Circle must be broken.”

“Why?”

“So that we can sing.”

A loud alarm blared to life and the Doctor jumped out of the container.

“Ups, that’s for us.”

The younger just shook his head and run beside him between the containers. He was slightly behind the Doctor when he spotted something at the wall that made him stop.

“Doctor, there’s a… door.”

But the man hadn’t heard him, thinking he was still running just behind him. Soldiers stepped through the door and the wizard held his hands up.

“Do not move!”

Meanwhile, the Time Lord had stopped, noticing his young companion wasn’t with him, and looked around with big worried eyes.

“Where has he gone?”

Unfortunately, more soldiers were behind him and he had to continue running. If they caught him he wouldn’t be able to get to Harry.

The first soldiers pushed Harry into a container where he fell to the floor and the human frowned. He would wait till they left to use his magic to get out.

When he looked up, though, he saw a group of Oods standing in a corner.

“Harry, where are you!?” shouted the Doctor.

The man was beginning to really worry about his young companion. For a moment he even forgot Harry was a wizard and could probably even be hidden at plain sight.

A mechanic sound made him look behind and he was grateful he had done it when he saw the enormous metal claw he had pointed before to his little emerald heading his way. He broke into a run and doubled the corner.

He tried to open one of the cages but it didn’t work and he had to run through the containers again. The claw nearly caught him when he tripped.

Meanwhile, Harry saw one of the Oods on the box he was in raise his head. Their eyes were red as they gazed at him. He knew then he was in big trouble.

“I’m a friend.” tried to reason backing into a corner when they took a step towards him. “I’m not here to hurt any of you. I want to help.”

He really didn’t want to hurt any of them. In his nearly panicked state at having found himself in danger so soon after the war, Harry called for the Doctor. Unfortunately, the man was still trying to escape the giant claw and didn’t even hear him.

Outside of the containers, the claw suddenly stopped when it was about to catch him. Doctor took air to regain his breath and stood, not caring to investigate the sudden halt in the persecution. He was too worried about Harry for that.

Two soldiers dragged him between the containers till he was in front of the one Harry was trapped inside.

“Doctor!”

“You better let him out!” growled the Time Lord enraged at the fear in his little one’s voice.

The Oods approaching more and more snapped Harry out of his panic and the young man berated himself for his loss of control.

With a simple alohomora spell, the door opened and the boy stumbled out just in time to see a group of soldiers and, in the middle of them, the Doctor.

He didn’t hesitate a second in running to him and the man caught him in a warm embrace.

“There you are. You’re not hurt, are you?” muttered the man on his hair.

“I’m okay. Though I don’t think they are.”

At that moment, one of the red eyed Oods exited the containers and electrocuted a soldier with the translator ball they all wore.

The other soldiers took positions and raised their guns to point at the beings. The Doctor dragged him out of the mess while the soldiers fired and the rest of the containers opened, freeing all of the Oods.

A group of the red eyed aliens went after them and they exited by the same door they had first entered. A little later they noticed they had being followed by Solana.

“Solana, the Oods aren’t born like this. It’s not possible. A race born to serve never evolves in the first place. What does the company do to make them obey?” asked the Doctor urgently.

“It’s nothing to do with me.”

“Of course, because you don’t ask?”

“That’s Doctor Rider’s matter entirely.”

The Time Lord took out the map everyone had been offered at the entrance.

“Where’s he? Where in the complex?” urged the traveller.

“We can help with the red eyes! Show it to us!” pleaded Harry.

“There.” revealed pointing to a place on the map. “They’re on the red section.”

“Come with us.” asked the Doctor when she diverted her eyes from his. “You’ve seen the way the Oods are treated. You can’t agree with it. You know this place better than me. You could help!”

Solana kept quiet for a few seconds, staring straight at the Time Lord’s eyes. For a moment, Harry thought she might do it. But then she looked away.

“They’re over here! Guards! They’re over here.”

The Doctor took Harry’s hand and run passed the Head of Marketing. She didn’t even attempt to follow them and they didn’t look back.

When they rounded a corner, two guards saw them and run after the two men.

“This way!” said the Doctor tugging on his arm.

They crossed and open metal fence and saw a door. The Doctor took out his screwdriver.

“Oh, do you hear it? I didn’t need the map. Only to listen.”

Harry nodded. He could feel the pressure against his mental shields.

The Doctor opened the door and sealed it once they were inside.

“I’m afraid, Doctor.” whispered Harry. “Of what we will find.”

The Doctor looked at him with a serious expression.

“Do you want to wait at the TARDIS?” asked the man with a sad face at the thought of his companion giving up at their first adventure together.

He couldn’t blame Harry, though. He himself was scared of discovering what the human race had done this time. Therefore, he was surprised when Harry firmly shook his head.

“Hell, no! I want to help, Doctor. It just… it scares me sometimes.” The teen admitted softly. “To think about what humans are capable of doing. But if I were to hide every time something bad happened… that’s no way of living. I want to help the Oods, Doctor.”

After his words, the Doctor beamed at him. The man had to remind himself that, even if Harry was incredibly innocent in some aspects, he was very strong and had endured many hardships.

“If it makes you feel better, I’m afraid of it too. I’ve seen many things in all of my years, but the human race always manages to surprise me. Often not in a good way. Listen.” said the Time Lord suddenly changing the topic as he usually did. “Listen, listen, listen, listen.”

The wizard followed the man in silence and they descended a staircase. The place was dark and dirty and had the appearance of a basement. The youngest traveller noticed that the pressure on his mental shields seemed to increase the further they went in the building.

“Ah, my head.” muttered the Time Lord sounding pained.

“What is it?”

“Don’t you hear them?”

“I have my mental shields up, but I can feel we’re nearing the source.”

The blush covering the pale cheeks of the youngest distracted the Time Lord for a moment before he managed to regain composure.

“They’re singing.”

The Doctor continued walking and they came upon a sight that Harry knew he would never forget. There was a group of about six Oods trapped into a cage.

They were hunched together and Harry could tell immediately that they were the source of the mental song. The Doctor approached a metal switch and turned on the lights.

“They look different to the others.” pointed the emerald eyed teen when he regained his voice and noticing that the beings seemed to cradle something to their chests. Also, they didn’t have a translator.

“That’s because they’re naturally born Oods, unprocessed, before being adapted to slavery, unspoilt.”

The two approached the bars and crouched.

“That’s their song. It’s the song of captivity.” explained the man without looking away from the Oods.

With curiosity and no small amount of trepidation, Harry closed his eyes and lowered his occlumency barriers.

He was instantly overwhelmed at the sheer feelings the song conveyed. The sadness, the hope, the feeling of being trapped, isolated. The song oozed loneliness.

He opened his eyes and stared at the beings in front of him. A sob wracked his body, but the wizard didn’t take notice of it, nor of the tears running down his cheeks as rivers on a mountain.

Though he didn’t notice, the Doctor did and turned towards his green eyes to find him crying while staring at the caged Oods and clutching the bars so hard his knuckles where white.

“Harry?”

“How can you bear it?” asked in a pained voice. “Hearing their song, and the feeling behind it?”

“It isn’t easy, but there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

“I could put a temporary shield around your mind.” offered the teen already knowing the answer.

“No. someone has to hear it. Someone should be there to remember their suffering.”

“I’m sorry it has to be you.” whispered his emerald with sorrow in his eyes.

The Doctor simply gave him an unusually gentle smile and Harry took a decision, cleaning his tears.

“Well, then, if you can endure it, so can I. This time you won’t be the only one to hear them.”

“Little one, that isn’t necessary…”

But Harry would have none of that and stubbornly refused to raise his shields back up. If his Doctor had to go through that, he wouldn’t do it alone.

A noise from upstairs drew their attention and both looked up.

“They’re coming.”

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver, but Harry stopped him.

“Wait, it’ll be faster if I do it.”

The Time Lord observed with barely hidden curiosity as the wizard’s wand slipped into his hand.

“Alohomora.”

The cage’s door opened.

“That’s handy.” commented the Time Lord.

Harry grinned. The Oods continued with their heads down and therefore didn’t note the magic.

“They’re breaking in.” said Harry when another metallic sound from above reached them.

“Leave them.”

The man entered the cage and the teen followed.

“What are you holding? Show me.” softly requested the traveller to one of the beings.

The Oods didn’t move.

“Friend.” That word got the Odds’ attention. “Doctor. Harry. Friends. Let me see. Look at me. Let me see it.”

Bit by bit, one of them inched his way towards the man.

“That’s it. That’s it. Go ahead.”

The Ood brought his hands closer to the Time Lord’s head before opening them and showing what they had cradled to their chests. Harry’s and the Doctor’s eyes opened wide.

“Is that…?”

“It’s a brain.” confirmed the man.

For a moment, Harry had a flashback about the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. A water container filled with floating brains and Ron summoning one in his craziness. Then the brain had tried to kill him.

“A hindbrain. The Ood are born with a secondary brain.” explained the man with amazement clear in his voice. “Like the amygdales on the humans, it processes the memories and emotions. If they remove it, you stop being Harry. You would become… an Ood. A processed Ood.”

“So the Company, cuts out their brains?” asked Harry horrified.

“And then they stitch them on the translator.” clarified through clenched teeth.

The wizard hadn’t even known that muggles knew how to do something like that. He could only hope they still didn’t know how to do that in his time or he could already see the muggles trying to cut out the brains of witches and wizards if they were to discover them.

“Do you think they would try that on us?” asked Harry in barely a whisper.

“The Company? No.”

“I mean to the magical community. Do you think that muggles, if they discovered us, would try that? Try to enslave us cutting out our brains? Or try to use it in order to find a way to steal our magic?”

The Doctor looked at him seriously.

“I don’t know, Harry, but I wouldn’t allow it.”

Before any of them could say anything more, there was a shout.

“They’re with the Ood, sir.”

The Doctor quickly closed the door with both of them inside the cage.

“What are you going to do? Arrest me? Lock me up? Throw me into a cage? Well, you’re too late.”

The Doctor showed them a parody of a smile, full of teeth. The boss of the Company, however, seemed unconcerned.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

Not much later, they found themselves in an office and a soldier cuffed them to a wall. The Time Lord glared at him when his little one hissed in pain as the man closed the cuff around his thin wrists so tight it nearly pierced his delicate skin.

“Why don’t you just come out and say it? You’re activists.” stated the boss.

“If that’s what the friends of the Oods attempt to prove, then yes.”

“The Ood were nothing without us. Just animals, roaming around on the ice.”

“That’s because you can’t hear them.” said the Doctor angrily.

“They welcomed it!” insisted the businessman with a smile. “That’s why they didn’t put up a fight.”

Harry looked at him with pity. He could see the man really believed what he was saying and it made him pity him. How could he be so blind to what was before him? The smile disappeared when Harry talked.

“They’re born with their brains in their hands. Don’t you see that makes them peaceful? They have to be, because a creature like that has to trust anyone it meets.”

“Good reasoning.”

“Thank you.”

“The system has worked for two hundred years. All we’ve got is a rogue batch. And the infection is about to be sterilized.” the balding man neared his wrist clock to his mouth and spoke. “Mister Cash, where do we stand?”

“The chambers are closed, sir. As soon as the core is hot enough, the gas will be released. 200 Indian brands and counting.” answered a voice.

“You’re going to gas them.” hissed the Doctor.

“Kill the livestock. The classic formal solution for the formal FMD of the old times. Still works.”

The man had the nerve to laugh at his own words, as if he wasn’t speaking of killing thousands of innocent beings. Suddenly, Harry gasped.

“Harry?”

“Death! So much death. It’s everywhere. People’s dying.”

After Harry’s statement, an alarm flared.

“What the hell?”

When the boss of the Company and a scientific went out to see what was happening, they left the door open and, even if they couldn’t see, the sound of fighting made it to their ears.

“Change of plans.” said the balding man upon his return.

“There are no reports of problems out of here. They’re still contained inside the Oodsphere.” reported the scientific.

“We have the duty to stop it before it expands.” smiled the man.

“What’s happening?” asked the Doctor.

“Everything you wanted, Doctor. There will be a full investigation once all this has been sterilized. I can’t risk a bullet to the head. I’ll leave you at the mercies of the Ood.”

“Mister Alpen, there’s something else, isn’t there? Something we haven’t seen before.” The Doctor’s voice stopped the man.

“What do you mean?” asked the green eyed teen.

“A creature wouldn’t survive with a forebrain and a hindbrain separated. It would be in war with itself. There’s a third element, isn’t there?” pointed the Time Lord intelligently.

“Once again. How clever.”

“It has to be connected with the red eyes. What is it?”

“It won’t exist for much longer. Enjoy your Ood.”

The man left with the scientific, the two soldiers and his personal Ood. It was then that, whilst the Doctor tried to free them, Harry noticed something.

“He hasn’t red eyes.” whispered.

“What?” the Doctor asked distractedly.

“The Ood. Mister Alpen’s personal Ood doesn’t have red eyes. Why is that?” The Doctor paused and his attention went completely to Harry. “If it were a disease, that Ood would probably be contaminated, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes… yes, it should be contaminated. What are the chances of him being the only one not contaminated? No, not enough. It can’t be a disease. It has to be something more complex, more like… like…”

“A newly evolved instinct? A defence mechanism?”

“Harry, you’re a genius!” exclaimed the man making him blush.

They were so distracted by the discovery that they forgot trying to escape. The door opening and showing a group of red eyed Oods reminded them that they were still cuffed.

Slowly, the Oods began to approach and the Doctor tried to free his hands, but the cuffs were too tight. Harry too tried to find a way out. Unfortunately, just when he thought he had his wand, it slipped to the floor and Harry had to close his eyes for a second. If he could calm himself, he could use wandless magic.

“Oh, god. Doctor, Harry, friends.”

“Doctor, that’s not helping me concentrate.”

Harry controlled his respiration and directed a flow of magic towards the cuffs.

“Relashio.”

The bindings opened and Harry took his wand from the floor before he and the Doctor run for the same door the others had left by. Immediately after opening the door, the wizard closed it. More Oods waiting for them.

They were trapped.

“Doctor, Harry, friends.” Started to chant the time traveller.

“The Circle must be broken.” added the teen trying to think of something else.

“Doctor, Harry, friends.”

The Oods approached.

“The Circle must be broken.”

They approached.

“Doctor, Harry, friends!”

The Doctor looked at his companion and his voice broke. He had to protect Harry!

“The Circle must be broken.”

“Doctor, Harry, friends.”

The white balls the Oods used as translators and weapons near their heads.

Listening to the Oods sing, Harry had an idea.

He connected his mind to theirs temporary and sent the same message the Doctor tried to convey. Doctor, Harry, friends.

The Oods stopped when the white spheres were just a few centimetres away from their faces.

The light of the balls went out and the Oods clutched their heads a moment before straightening and looking at them. The red eyes had disappeared.

“Doctor. Harry. Friends.”

“Yes, it’s us. We’re friends. Oh, yeah.”

Harry simply sighed in relief.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

           

Once out, they saw the compound was in chaos.

There were soldiers everywhere, some shooting to anything that moved and some lying dead on the snow covered ground. The same happened with the Oods, except that they didn’t shoot.

The Doctor and Harry climbed down the stairs and run for cover.

“I don’t know where it is. I don’t know where they’ve gone.”

“What are we looking for, Doctor?”

“It could be underground. In some kind of cavern or cave.”

The Doctor made a full circle on the place, looking at the nearest buildings for something.

“If you give me something more accurate I can find it.”

“Hum, wherever it is mister Alpen is going there next.”

“Okay, I can work with that.” answered Harry taking out his wand. “Point me Alpen.”

The wand trembled for a moment and then pointed in a direction.

“This way, Doctor.” directed Harry running towards where the wood piece pointed.

They both fell to the ground when there was an explosion at their back.

“Are you okay?” asked the Doctor concerned.

“Yes.” muttered the wizard after shaking his head.

They looked to the place of the explosion and, after the smoke cleared, they found themselves looking at an Ood. And both had a strong suspicion of who the Ood was.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

With the Ood’s help they made it to the place where mister Alpen was faster than expected. The ‘point me’ spell didn’t point the shorter path, but the Ood knew the compound very well.

The Doctor used his screwdriver to fry the circuits of the door to the warehouse fifteen and open it.

They descended a new staircase to a shadowy room with a dim red light.

The Doctor was the first approaching the railing and looking down. There was giant brain surrounded by a blue circle of energy. The song in his head was so strong that Harry felt tempted to close the link. He didn’t, and he didn’t notice a few tears leaving his eyes.

“The Ood brain. Now all makes sense. That is the missing link. The third element that connects all of them. The forebrain, the hindbrain and this. The telepathic centre is a shared mind, connecting all the Ood in a song.”

“And the Circle,” whispered Harry suddenly understanding. “The Circle stopped it. It doesn’t let them connect, does it? It leaves them alone. The Circle must be broken.”

“Exactly.”

The Doctor looked up and froze. Mister Alpen was pointing a gun directly at them.

“Cargo. I can always go in the cargo. I’ve got the rockets, I’ve got the cellars, and the little businesses are much more manageable without the livestock.” the man descended the stairs while speaking.

“He’s mined the area.” informed the scientific pointing at the giant brain.

“He’s going to kill it.”

“They found that thing centuries ago beneath the northern glacial.” continued the balding man ignoring the raven haired teen.

“Transmission towers. Damping the telepathic field. Stopping the Oods from connecting for two hundred years.”

“And you, Ood Sigma, you brought them here. I expected better.” said the man.

“My place is at your side, sir.” replied the Ood putting himself besides mister Alpen.

“Still subservient.” said the man with a satisfied grin before mocking the being: “Good Ood.”

“If that barrier is still in place, how can the Ood start breaking out?” asked Harry making the man stop smirking.

“Maybe it’s taken centuries to adapt. The subconscious reaching out.” guessed the Doctor.

“But the process was too slow. It had to be accelerated.” explained the scientific. “You’d never have given me access to the controls, mister Alpen. I lowered the barrier to its minimum. Friends of the Oods, sir. It’s taken me ten years to infiltrate the Company. And I succeeded.”

“Yes, yes you did.”

Harry saw what was going to happen before it did. When mister Alpen threw the scientific over the railing, the wizard had his wand in hand. With a levicorpus, the first spell that came to his mind, the man found himself hanging over the brain by his left leg.

The green eyed teen sighed in relief, though the feeling didn’t last long. After that display, mister Alpen’s gun was firmly pointed at him. It seemed the balding man considered him the greatest threat.

“What did you do!?” shouted.

Harry looked at the weapon with big eyes. How did he always end up in those situations?

The Doctor raised his hands in a peace sign and tried to calm the man, though what he wanted was to strangle him if he didn’t lower the gun with which he was pointing to his little one.

Slowly, the Doctor moved until he was shielding the teen with his own body.

“Now, I can’t say that I have never shot anyone before. I can’t say I’m going to like it, but this is not exactly a normal day, is it? Still…” the man aimed.

“Would you like a drink, sir?” interrupted the Ood.

Harry looked at the creature suspiciously when Sigma put himself in the middle of the gun’s shooting range with a glass on his hand whilst mister Alpen laughed.

“I think hair loss is the least of my problems right now.”

“Please, have a drink, sir.” insisted the creature.

“If-if you’re going to stand in the way, I’ll shoot you too.” replied mister Alpen with his voice shaking and pained face.

The Doctor reached out with a hand to the Ood’s shoulder. He knew something was happening right then, but he couldn’t pinpoint what.

“Please, have a drink, sir.” repeated stubbornly.

“H-h-have you p-poisoned me?” asked mister Alpen with not only his voice but his hands shaking.

The Doctor looked sharply at Ood Sigma.

“A natural Ood must never kill, sir.”

“What is that stuff?” wondered the Time Lord looking directly at the Ood.

Mister Alpen rubbed his forehead with a hand.

“Ood graft suspended in a biological compound, sir.” answered the Ood.

“What the hell does that mean?” demanded to know the balding man unknowingly mirroring Harry’s thoughts.

“Oh, yeah.” muttered the Time Lord in understanding.

“Tell me!” shouted mister Alpen grabbing the gun with two hands and attempting to aim again.

“Funny thing the subconscious. Takes all sorts of shapes. Came out in the red eyes as revenge, came out in the rage as fury, and then there was patient.” explained the Doctor looking at Sigma at the end. “Ha, all those intelligence and mercy focussed on Ood Sigma. How’s the hair loss, mister Alpen?” taunted the traveller.

Mister Alpen took his hands to his blading head and petted his hair. A handful of it came off and the man looked at it in horror.

“What have you done?” asked trembling more and more.

“Oh, they’ve been preparing you for a very long time. And now you’re standing next to the Ood brain. Mister Alpen, don’t you hear it? Listen…”

The businessman’s gaze strayed to the brain with an almost dazed look and it took all of his willpower to close his eyes and look at them again.

“What have… you… I’m… not…”

The gun clattered to the ground and the man, still appearing dazed, grabbed his head as if in pain.

Harry saw in a sort of fascinated horror as the man peeled off the skin of his own head until the skull was visible. Tentacles came out of his mouth and, in just a few seconds, mister Alpen was no more: in front of them stood a new Ood.

“He’s… he’s turned into an Ood?”

“Yes.”

“Completely.”

“Yes.”

Suddenly the new Ood made a strange sound and opened his mouth to throw up something. A hindbrain came out of his mouth.

“Impressive.”

“Impressive? That’s all you have to say?” asked the Doctor amused.

“What should I say?

“I don’t know, maybe start screaming that’s impossible or be afraid that something like that’s happened? I don’t know, you never react as I expect! Not that that’s something bad.” added the older one seeing the expression of the youngest. “I like surprises. I love surprises. I don’t want you to be like the rest. I love that you aren’t like the rest. And now I’m rambling, am I not?”

Harry smiled with amusement and fondness.

“Yes, you’re rambling. But I don’t mind a bit.”

They shared a smile until someone clearing his throat interrupted them.

“Would you mind bringing me down from here, please?” asked the scientific still hanging over the brain.

They had forgotten about him.

“Oh, yes, sorry. Okay, don’t move one bit.” blushing, Harry directed his wand at him. “Liberacorpus. Wingardium leviosa.”

The science man floated gently till he was on his feet in front of them again and looked at the emerald eyed wizard with awe. However, Harry spoke before he could say anything.

“No, I can’t explain to you what I’ve done and no, I won’t let you study it.” cut Harry as gently as he could while discretely throwing a binding spell at him that would prevent him from speaking of it to anyone that didn’t already know about magic.

Both travellers looked at the two Oods and Sigma spoke.

“He has become Ood kind and we will take care of him.” informed them the Ood about the former mister Alpen.

“It’s situations like this one that make me rethink what is wrong and what is right.” muttered Harry.

“It’s better this way. People that has it clear tend to become like mister Alpen.”

“Or like Dumbledore.” whispered Harry so low nobody heard it.

It was then that a kind of alarm went on and the Doctor reacted quickly, going to the railing and deactivating the mines.

“That’s better. And now… Sigma, would you allow me the honour?”

The Ood nodded solemnly.

“It’s yours, Doctor.”

“Oh, yeah. Submitted for two hundred years, but not anymore.” said the Time Lord pressing buttons in a console. “The Circle is broken. The Oods can sing!”

The energy circle around the Ood brain disappeared and the Doctor grinned widely.

Harry looked at the giant brain in wonder. The song was changing. It was so beautiful. It didn’t speak of captivity, sadness and loneliness anymore. It now spoke of joy, of peace, of freedom.

“I can hear it.” whispered the scientific.

Harry and the Doctor grinned at each other and, with the feelings of the song resounding on their heads, none of them could resist leaning into each other for a chaste kiss.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

They were in front of the TARDIS, ready to leave.

“The message has gone out. That song resonated across the galaxies. Everyone heard it. Everyone knows. The rockets are bringing them back. The Ood are coming home.”

“We thank you, Doctor, Harry. Friends of Ood kind” said Sigma. “And what of you now? Will you stay? There is room in the song for you.”

“Oh, I-I should be returning to my own song, thanks.”

“Your song has changed. I thought it was going to have an end soon. Now I can feel that it’s going to be completed, but it will not end.”

The Doctor looked at him stunned. What did that mean?

“Completed?”

“Nobody should sing alone.”

“Ah.” The Doctor tried to forget the cryptic message and directed his attention to Harry. “What about you? Do you still want to travel with me?”

Harry smiled at him with gentleness.

“Of course, Doctor. I’m definitely staying with you. You don’t need even ask.”

“Then, we’ll continue travelling together, for as long as you’ll have me.” whispered the Time Lord.

The teen blushed and looked down to the snow covered ground.

“Well, then, we’ll be off.”

“Take this song with you.” advised Ood Sigma whilst the other Oods standing in a semicircle at his back started to sing for them.

“We’ll do.”

“Always.”

“And know this, Doctor, Harry, you will never be forgotten. Our children will sing of the Doctor and Harry. And our children’s children. And the wind, and the ice and the snow will carry your names forever.”

With a nod and a last look at the peaceful Oods and the beautiful sights of their snowy world, the Doctor and Harry entered the TARDIS.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Where do you want to go now?”

“I owe you an explanation.” stated Harry.

The Doctor stopped where he was playing idly with the controls of the TARDIS.

“I can wait till you’re ready to speak about it.”

“No. I owe you that. At least I’ll give you the basics.”

The Doctor looked him seriously on the eyes and, after a few minutes in which Harry didn’t look away, he slowly nodded.

“I told you that my parents had been killed by a wizard. His name was Tom Riddle and he was a genius. He was an orphan during the Second World War in London and, at age eleven, he received an invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“You’re school.”

“Yes. He was the most brilliant student, he had an incredible amount of power and great talent to back it up. He was intelligent and charismatic and he wanted to change the world. He gathered a following. He could have done so much good… But Tom was jaded. No one had ever loved him, no one had ever showed him what love was, and Tom never learnt it. He cared for no one.” explained Harry with deep pain.

The Doctor took his hand and directed him to take a seat before crouching in front of him.

“Tom began a war.” the Time Lord’s jaw clenched. “When my parents refused, he targeted them. Then a seer made a prophecy stating that, and I quote, ‘the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born when the seventh months dies’. I was born at midnight the last day of the seventh month and another boy was born the day before. Our families were targeted.”

“Because of a prophecy.” clarified the Doctor trying to maintain an open mind.

“Yes, which is a stupidity because: one, predicting the future is nearly impossible because it’s not set on stone, especially around magical beings; and two, the majority of prophecies are self-fulfilling, which means that if you ignore them, they don’t have to happen. Their just possibilities.”

The Doctor nodded to show he understood. Truthfully, he too didn’t believe in prophecies.

“One night, a friend of my parents betrayed us and gave our direction to the Dark Lord. That night, Tom came and killed them. He tried to killed me too, but somehow I survived with just a scar.

“A lightning bolt shaped scar.” muttered the man gripping his hands.

“When he couldn’t kill me, his body was destroyed and he became little more than a ghost. Nobody really knows how I survived, but since that night I was considered a hero. The Boy Who Lived.” snorted the teen. “Albus Dumbledore, former headmaster of my school, left me at the doorstep of my relatives that same night.” The Doctor frowned at that. “He claimed it was for my security, that the sacrifice of my mother dying for me created powerful blood wards around my home if I lived with a relative and that he just wanted for me to have a normal childhood away from the fame.”

“But you weren’t safe. Not with the Dursleys.”

The green eyed teen just smiled with a little sadness.

“Later I discovered he had done it so that I would see him as a saviour when he rescued me from my relatives. He wanted me to be malleable. He wanted me to be seeing as a copy of my parents that took his words as the words of a god. He didn’t want me to think by myself. I was nothing but a weapon that would be discarded once it wasn’t needed anymore.”

The Time Lord tenderly wiped a tear that had fallen from the corner of his eye.

“Every year, except my third in which I met my godfather, I met Tom in dangerous situations. I nearly died every time and it had all been orchestrated by Dumbledore. Tom returned in my fourth year, but he remained hidden for another year and the wizarding world called me a liar for saying he was back. Until the night my godfather died. That night, the war began officially. The next year, Dumbledore died. It was then that I was forced to take charge. I led the war until the final battle, in which Teddy’s parents died.”

“I’m sorry.” Said the Doctor not knowing what else he could say. “You should never have had to fight. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It won’t change anything. Besides, I survived, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. You’re a very strong person, Harry. Many would have given up.”

“I couldn’t. Not if I wanted to see you again.”

The Doctor’s breath stuck on his throat and the oldest pulled the teen into a warm embrace.

“You can ask questions, you know?” said Harry after a few minutes in silence. “I can tell you have many.”

The Doctor sighed.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, what was the war about?”

“Blood. Wizards and witches are classified in three categories: pureblood, halfblood and muggleborn. Purebloods are wizards that don’t have any muggle blood in their families. Halfbloods are those with a pureblood parent and a muggleborn or muggle parent. And last but not least, muggleborns are born from two muggle parents. Then, there are squibs, purebloods born without magic or with so little that they can’t practically use it.”

“In which category are you?”

“I’m a halfblood. My mother was a muggleborn, but my father was a pureblood. Tom Riddle was thought to be a pureblood, but he was like me: a halfblood. Tom hated the muggles because of his horrible childhood and because his father, a muggle, abandoned his mother and him before he was born. She died and he ended up in an orphanage. The Dark Lord wanted to wipe out completely the muggles and muggleborns in the belief that they were inferior. We, however, fought for equality.”

“Sounds like a petty excuse to take revenge for his childhood.”

“It was.”

The Time Lord maneuvered until his little beauty was sitting on his lap and started to stroke with his fingers the long tresses of soft black hair.

“What happened to Riddle?” Harry tensed.

“He’s dead. I... I had to k-kill him. In the final battle. He wouldn’t stop. I offered him a last chance to repent. I really did! But he… he wouldn’t…”

“Shhh, it’s okay, little one. I understand. He wouldn’t have stopped. You did what you had to protect your people.”

“I know, but it doesn’t make me feel better.”

“I know it doesn’t.”

They remained in silence a few minutes more.

“Who was Crouch?”

“What?”

“Crouch. Andromeda confused me with him.”

“Remember the day that you came to the park and I… I fell asleep on you?”

“You were crying.” said softly the man. “You told me that someone that looked a lot like had tried to kill you and that you had seen him die. It was him, wasn’t he?”

“Yes. That was Barty Couch Jr. He was impersonating a professor in my school.”

The Doctor nodded.

“The two-way books.”

“They are called that way in honour of the two-way mirror my godfather once gifted me. The two-way mirror allowed the persons in possession of the objects to communicate safely. They just need to say the name of the other person and it would work like a video call. The two-way books allow you to do the same. However, you can just write in them the message instead of seeing the person if you don’t won’t to bother with a large conversation. These books aren’t just two books, but a whole net of interconnected books.”

“Impressive.”

Harry grinned, the previously dark mood completely forgotten.

“And werewolves? You promised to let me read your school book.”

“Oh, yeah. I nearly forgot. But first… tell me about how you met Jack. And that thing about saving the universe.” begged Harry.

And how could he deny anything to his little emerald?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“So, a tour of the TARDIS?”

“Sounds good for me.” yawned Harry.

“Are you sure? You look death on your feet.” said the Doctor looking at him in amusement.

The wizard blushed and ducked his head, but the Time Lord would have none of it.

“I love it when you blush.” said lightly caressing his jaw line with a finger.

Harry looked up at him and the blush darkened at the man’s expression. The teen had to look away. If more blood went to his head he would end fainting.

“So… a tour?”

The Doctor smiled, but shook his head.

“No, bed for you now. You’re tired. I’ll show it to you tomorrow.” Harry sighed but nodded. “We have time, Harry.”

“I know.” was the wizard’s soft response.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

Harry yawned as he walked in the control room of the TARDIS to find the Doctor hopping from side to side and repeatedly touching the buttons.

“Good morning.” greeted the teen timidly.

The man stopped immediately to look at him and Harry squirmed in the place. The Time Lord’s gaze was awed, as if he couldn’t really believe what he was seeing.

“Doctor? Is everything okay?”

That seemed to snap him out of wherever he had been.

“Yes, of course, everything’s right. Just… I’ve been waiting so long to travel with you that I can’t believe it’s finally happening.”

Harry couldn’t stop a happy grin from stretching across his face, nor did he try to. Truthfully, he couldn’t believe it too.

Suddenly, his stomach rumbled and the wizard looked at the Doctor in surprise.

“We didn’t eat anything yesterday.” remembered the man. “You must be very hungry.”

“A little.”

“Come, let’s go to the kitchen.” the man chuckled.

Harry smiled and followed the man through the same door and a corridor to a cosy kitchen. It wasn’t very big, but it was pretty modern.

“Do you like omelettes?” asked the Doctor. “I make some of the best omelettes of the universe. Pancakes too, do you like pancakes? What do you usually eat for breakfast?”

Harry was surprised when the man continued talking about breakfast foods and guided him to sit in a surprisingly comfy metal chair at the table.

“I can prepare us breakfast, Doctor.” said the teen with surprise.

“Nah, don’t worry. I can do it. Just tell me what you like.”

“Are you sure? I really don’t mind…”

“Not a word, Harry, if it’s not to tell me what you want for breakfast.”

The young man sighed in defeat.

“Whatever you do it’s fine with me, Doctor.”

“Well, let’s see…”

The Time Lord busied himself with the cooking and the wizard entertained himself with seeing him work.

“So you wizards eat the same as any other human? You don’t eat newt eyes or worms with ketchup? I’m afraid I don’t have any of those.”

“No.” laughed Harry. “Neither newt eyes nor worms with ketchup. Personally, I think that’s something the muggles invented to make us seem even more different from themselves. We eat the same as them, though we do use those things.”

“Newt eyes and worms with ketchup?” asked the man bolting an omelette and raising an eyebrow.

“Newt eyes and worms. I’m afraid the ketchup wouldn’t react well with the potions.”

“Potions? What kind of potions? What can you use them for? How are they made?”

“Well, there’re many different potions and they can be used for nearly everything. The more commons are used for healing, like the _blood-replenishing potion_ or the _skele-gro_ potion. There are poisons too, of course, like the _venomous tentacula juice_ or the lethal _noxious potion_. And where there’s a poison there’s an antidote. Some potions are used to enhance some traits, like the _memory potion_ or the _strengthening solution_ that increase the drinker’s memory and strength respectively.” Harry stopped for a moment to take air and gulp down some orange juice the man had handed him, noticing that the Time Lord was listening to everything very carefully while preparing some bacon. “Then, we have the famous truth serums, _veritaserum_ being the strongest of them all, and their respective antidotes. There is the _polijuice_ potion too, the most potent of its kind, that allows a person to take another’s appearance by adding some part of its body. And we can’t forget the _felix felicis_ , also known as liquid luck, which makes the drinker successful in any endeavour. There are infinity of other potions with thousands of different uses like the _regerminating potion_ that helps a plant germinate, the _pompion potion_ that turn’s the drinker’s head into a pumpkin and the _everklena_ , a supposed cleaning product that instead of cleaning creates more of what you spray it on.”

“Wow, I don’t know where to begin with the questions. It sounds as if you can do nearly anything only with potions.”

“Well, not everything, but a lot.” agreed the teen. “I can lend you my books on potion making if you want.”

“I would love it. Can everyone do potions?”

“Only some of them. Others need to be infused magic in some points of the preparation to work correctly. And then there are others that just don’t have the necessary talent. I, for example, can prepare some pretty good potions, but I’m far from mastering this branch of magic. As my professor used to say, potion making is an art.”

The Doctor hummed a little and took two plates full of food to the table, putting one in front of Harry before taking a seat at his side.

“Love potions? Isn’t that a little cliché?”

Harry laughed.

“Surprisingly, the muggles got right many things. You would be surprised at how many of those clichés are real.”

“For example?”

“The wands, the incantations, the robes and pointy hats, the flying brooms…”

“Flying brooms? You’ve got to be kidding.”

“No. It’s my favourite magical transport.” revealed Harry. “There’s even a sport, Quidditch, that is played on brooms.”

“Really? I wonder where the idea of flying brooms comes from. Was it before the other humans began to tell about them on their tales or after?”

“I’m not sure. Wizards began using them during the witch hunts because they were a common object. After all, everyone had one so nobody could accuse them of being witches just because they had a broom on their house.”

“Interesting.”

Harry took a bite of the omelette and his eyes widened in surprise.

“This is delicious, Doctor! Where did you learn to cook?”

“Glad you like it.” said the man with a big grin. “And it was in France in the 16th century.”

Harry blinked before just shrugging and taking another bite, watching the Doctor do the same.

They remained silent while eating, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Far from it.

“So… tell me more about that sport you mentioned earlier. Then one played on flying brooms.”

And so, Harry told the Doctor about Quidditch while finishing his pancakes.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

After being given a tour of the surprisingly big TARDIS, Harry found himself back in the control room and with a question burning in his mind.

“And where’s your room?”

The Doctor paused and looked a little uncomfortable as he looked at him.

“You slept there last night.” muttered the man with a faint blush.

The wizard looked befuddled before a blush covered his cheeks.

“Oh.”

The Doctor didn’t know what the teen was thinking and started to get nervous. His little emerald knew that there were many more rooms so he couldn’t use that as an excuse.

“It’s just… well, it’s the most comfortable room of the TARDIS and I thought… I don’t need as much sleep as a human, there’re days that I don’t sleep at all, so I… if I’m tired I can always take another room or a sofa or…”

Harry stopped his ramblings by pecking him on the lips. The Doctor blinked in surprise. It was the first time Harry kissed him. The other times it had been he that had kissed the human.

“I don’t mind. In fact, I feel honoured that you left me sleep in your room.” whispered the teen. “And… well, we can always share it. The bed is big enough for both. I mean,” continued blushing. “it’s your room. You shouldn’t have to sleep in a sofa. Or I could do just that. I’ve slept in worse places…”

This time it was the older man that stopped him with a kiss and smirked at him.

“As you’ve just said, the bed is big enough.”

“You expected me to say that, didn’t you?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny it.”

“You did!”

“One can only hope.”

Harry sighed in exasperation and clear fondness.

“If you wanted to share a room with me you could have just asked.”

“Would you have said yes?” asked the man pausing.

“I-I don’t know. I…” the wizard looked down and the long black hair hid his face and, probably, a fierce blush. “I’ve never felt this way for someone.”

The Time Lord smiled softly, though the wizard didn’t see it, and approached him to lift his head and look him in those incredibly green eyes.

“We’ll go slowly. We’ll figure a way to make this work. I promise. I too have never felt this before, not so intense. I’ve lost many people because I thought the universe was more important; but for you… I already told you, Harry. I would let the universe burn if it meant seeing you one more time.”

Tears gathered at his eyes and the wizard blinked repeatedly, trying to stop them, but the man still noticed.

“Harry?” asked worried.

“I-I’m sorry. I’ve never…”

The Doctor sighed and nodded in understanding.

“I know. It’s okay. I’m here now.”

The wizard smiled and nodded. It would take a while for it to really sink in that he was not alone anymore, the Doctor knew, but it would eventually.

The mood changed instantly for the better when the Doctor jumped to the control panel and gave him a lopsided smirk.

“So, ready for a new adventure?”

“Always. Where are we going this time?”

“Well, we’ve seen the future. What do you say about a visit to the past?”

“Perfect.”

They grinned at each other and the Doctor started touching buttons.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Where are we, Doctor?”

“Rio de Janeiro, in 1723. It’s the first carnival.”

The teen smiled, never having had the opportunity to see one, and run to the door to look out. However, he stopped short in his tracks when he saw what was at the other side and turned concerned eyes on the man.

“Rio de Janeiro during the first carnival, you say?”

“Yes.”

“In the past.”

“Yes.”

Harry kept silent, looking outside and back to the Doctor.

“Why? What’s wrong?” asked the man running to the door.

“Not to sound unsupportive but… it doesn’t look like Rio.” answered Harry hesitantly.

“No? But we’re in Rio. We landed in Ri-” the man stopped after looking out the doors. “This is not Rio!”

“I thought so.” agreed Harry with amusement shining in his eyes.

The man run to the controls and looked at a screen. Harry followed and both saw in surprise as a message appeared.

_See you soon, sweetie._

Harry blinked.

“Do you know who sent it?”

“No idea, but whoever sent the message brought us here too. The TARDIS received these coordinates from the same person.”

“Well, let’s discover who did it and why.”

They both grinned and exited the cabin before starting to look around. The Doctor sniffed a little while putting on his ever present tweed jacket and gave him an excited grin.

“I know where we are! And when!”

Harry looked at him in surprise. That had been fast.

“You know it just because of the smell?”

“Yes. Don’t you smell it? Books! People never stopped loving books! 51st century.”

“Jack’s time. I wonder if he’s already travelled to the past or if he’s still here.”

The Doctor stopped and looked pensive. He continued while walking to a door in a side of the room.

“I’m not sure. I don’t know in which time he left. Well, doesn’t matter. By now, you only have videos, direct downloads to the brain, fiction misty…”

“Not my people. They would never accept that kind of technology. I’m sure they stick to books even now.”

“Well, that’s great. I myself prefer books. One needs the smell. The smell of books, Harry. Take a deep breath.” advised the man pushing open the door and still looking at the teen.

The wizard followed the man trough the marble gallery with high ceilings at the other side. They descended a pair of staircases.

“The Library. So big it doesn’t need a name. Just the bright big ‘the’.”

“It’s like a city.”

“It’s a world. Literally. A world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer. Biggest hard disk ever. And up here, every book ever written. Whole continents of Jeffrey Archer, Bridget Jones… Monty Phyton’s Big Red Book. Brand new editions, especially printed.” they approached the railing of what appeared to be a balcony and looked down.

It was an incredible sight and an incredible height. If one were to fell… but Harry was a seeker. He wasn’t so easily scared.

“I have a friend that would give everything just to see this place. She would die of a heart attack if she were to see so many books on the same place.”

“She likes books that much?”

“She loves books. Sometimes too much.”

“Hum, I know that type. We’re near the equator, so…” the Time Lord licked a finger and lifted it into the air. “This must be biographies!”

The exclamation was uttered with so much excitement that Harry was hard pressed to supress a giggle.

“I love biographies.”

“But you always know how they end. With a death.”

“There needs to be a good death. Without death there would only be comedies. Dying gives us sense.” defended the man.

“Is that really you’re opinion?”

“Why aren’t you trying to read them? Anyone on your place would be trying to read these books.”

Harry shrugged.

“What’s the point of reading it when you can live it? That would just spoil the surprise.”

The Doctor found himself surprised at the nonchalant answer. But then, why was he surprised? It was Harry.

“There’s something wrong here, Doctor.”

The Time Lord was surprised when Harry looked around, a frown marring his features. Well, not really marring. His little gem was too beautiful to be anything less than perfect.

“Yes, I think the same. I cannot pinpoint what’s exactly that’s wrong. How frustrating…”

“This is the biggest library in the universe, isn’t it?”

“Yes… and where is everyone?” asked the Doctor understanding where he was going. “It’s in silence.”

“I don’t understand how that’s possible. I mean, in my school our librarian was always driven crazy because the bunch of students that was there never stopped being too noisy. And it was pretty big, but nowhere near this size. There should be thousands of people here…”

“And thousands of people, even trying to be quiet, would be heard. Where is everyone?” finished the man.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver from an inside pocket of his jacket and pointed it at a nearby screen.

“The whole planet is in silence.”

_The Library_ , read the screen.

“Maybe it’s Sunday?” joked Harry.

“No. I never land on Sunday. They’re boring.”

“You came to see me on a Sunday.” pointed the teen.

“You’re an exception.” Harry rolled his eyes with fondness.

“Do you think this is why we were brought here?”

“Maybe. It could be. Whoever called us here must have known about this too.” conceded the Doctor without looking away from the screen. “This is really interesting.”

“What?”

“I’ve scanned in search of living forms. If I do a scan looking for humanoid life forms, you know, reading books, with two arms and a face… apart from us, I get nothing. Zero, nothing. See? Nobody’s home.”

_Scanning for humanoid life forms: 2_ , read this time the screen.

“But if I broaden the parameters to any kind of life…”

The numbers on the screen went crazy.

“A million of millions. It gives up on trying to count them all.” Explained the Doctor looking out on the expanse of buildings before them. “A million of millions. A million of millions and not a sound. A million of millions of life forms and silence in the library.”

“Could the scanner be wrong?”

“I don’t know. Do you think you could try that… spell you used at the Ood compound?”

“Yes. Homenum revelio.” muttered Harry. “Just the two of us. This spell can only reveal the presence of human forms, so I’m assuming it counts you as such because of our similarities.”

“So it’s still possible that the scanner was right.”

“Yes. But I don’t know how that could be. There are only books here…”

Harry shut up and took a step back from the books. The Doctor looked at them with the same suspicion and didn’t see the wizard taking out his wand until he used it to poke one of the tomes.

“Welcome.” said a voice making them jump.

Harry placed a hand over his heart and both turned to look at each other.

“It came from inside.”

“Yeah.” sighed the Doctor climbing up the staircase. “Now thinking about it, it was a little ridiculous to think that… that the books were… well, that they were alive.

“If you think it, they really were alive. When they were trees.”

“That was a smart response.” accepted the man with a grin.

“And I really don’t want another book trying to eat me.”

“Another?” the Doctor looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“Some of our books are, well… some are not simple books. One of my school books, the Monstrous Book of Monsters, has teeth and usually tries to bite anyone that nears it. There are others that do different things, but the most famous ones are the dark books. Some of them scream, or suck you in, or even make you so engrossed in their pages that you can’t stop reading and end dying because you forget to eat and drink.”

“Okay, I understand why you were suspicious of the books.”

They reached the end of the stairs and entered the room where the TARDIS was.

In front of a desk, there was what Harry had thought was a white stone sculpture, but the upper part was turning in their direction. His eyes widened when he saw a face embedded on it.

“I am courtesy node 710 slash aqua. Please, enjoy The Library and respect the personal access codes of your fellow readers regardless of species or hygienic taboos.” said a monotonous female voice.

“Tell me that face just seems real. Tell me they didn’t…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, they did!”

“It’s the 51st century. It’s like donating a pair of shoes.”

“So the person was already dead. I suppose that’s something.”

“Additionally, there follows a brief message from the Head Librarian for your urgent attention. It has been edited for tone and content by a Felman Lux filter of decency. Message follows: _Run. For god’s sake, run. Nowhere is safe. The Library has sealed itself. We can’t… Oh. They’re here. They’re. Already. Here._ Message ends. Please, turn off your mobile com units for the comfit of other readers.”

Harry shivered. The message said in that monotonous voice was truly creepy.

“So that’s why we’re here.” mused the Doctor. “Any other message with the same date?”

“An additional message. This message has a Felman Lux coherence warning of 50…”

“Yeah, fine, fine, fine, just put it on.” interrupted the Doctor.

“Message follows: _Count the shadows. For god’s sake, remember. If you want to live, count the shadows._ Message ends.”

The Doctor noticed his little emerald shudder and put an arm around his shoulders in a comforting gesture while looking around the room.

“Doctor?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think that means?”

“To stay out of the shadows?”

The wizard cracked a smile.

“Very funny, Doctor, but what I meant is: what’s in the shadows?”

“That’s not what you asked.”

Harry sighed and followed him to a door opposite the one they had gone through to the balcony.

The corridor they found themselves in reminded him of the Hogwarts library, with rows and rows of books that reached the ceiling. His first impression of the place was supported by that. It would be Hermione’s heaven.

“There’s something I forgot to ask you.” said the Doctor suddenly.

“What?”

“Your surname. When we entered the Ood compound I remembered that you never told me your surname. I thought of Andromeda and that’s why I said Black.”

Harry smiled slightly and turned to look at him.

“Well, you have half then. It’s Potter. Potter-Black. I adopted the Black surname in honour of my godfather.”

“Harry Potter-Black. Hum. Sounds good.” smiled the Doctor.

“Who do you think called us here?” asked Harry ducking his head to hide a new blush.

The way the Doctor had said his name… it was very different from the way the wizarding world did, always with respect and awe. It had made shivers run down his back, in a good way.

“I don’t know… Harry.”

Harry looked back where the man was staring and his eyes widened when a light suddenly went out. Then another, and another.

“What’s happening?”

“Run!”

The man didn’t give him time to follow the orders, dragging him by the arm in the opposite direction from the lights that were still going out.

They reached a big double wooden door and the Time Lord tried pushing it open.

“Is it locked?”

“No, it’s warped.” answered the man still trying to open it.

“The screwdriver?”

“It’s wood.”

“It doesn’t work with wood?”

“No!”

“Okay, get out of the way.” requested the wizard taking out his wand.

The man did as asked and saw as his little emerald pointed the wooden stick at the door.

“Bombarda!”

There was an explosion and the door was taken off his hinges. The wizard jumped over the wood to the room and the Doctor was left staring.

“Doctor!”

“What? Oh, yeah, yeah.” the man jumped and turned to look outside. “Now we can’t lock it again.”

“Oh, but we can.” contradicted Harry pointing at the place where the door had been just a moment ago. “Reparo.”

The man stared again as the debris floated and reconstructed the door in its place. Just to be sure, the Doctor blocked it with a book taken from a nearby table and Harry uttered a locking charm.

They rested their backs against the wood and sighed.

“Incredible magic. A little destructive, isn’t it?”

“The unlocking charm wouldn’t have worked if it was warped and I didn’t know what else I could use.”

“No, no, it’s okay… oh.”

Harry looked up and saw a wooden ball floating in mid-air.

“Hello. Sorry to barge in this way. Do you mind if we stay here for a bit?”

The sphere fell to the floor as if it were a puppet with cut strings.

“What’s that?”

“Security camera.” the time traveller touched it with a foot. “It’s offed itself.”

The Doctor took it and looked at it thoughtfully. He took the screwdriver out and pointed it at the camera.

“What was that thing about the light going out after us? Please, tell me we didn’t flee from a power outage.”

“Possibly.”

“Do you think we’re safe here?” asked Harry looking up.

The ceiling was an uncovered half sphere that left you see the sky outside.

“I think so. We’re on a shop.” Harry looked around and saw that it was true. “Got you!”

Harry looked at the man and saw that the camera’s eyeglass had opened.

“No, stop it, no.” read the man aloud. “Oh, I’m sorry. I really am. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s alive.”

“The security camera?”

“Yes.” confirmed the man pocketing the screwdriver after leaving the sphere on the floor.

“Others are coming.” read Harry aloud. “Others? What others?”

The Doctor didn’t answer, but Harry hadn’t expected it. He didn’t have the answer.

“Excuse me, what does it mean others are coming?” asked Harry to a node.

“It’s like a scale that tells you the weight. It can’t help you.”

Harry sighed and turned around with the intention of taking a seat in a nearby chair, but the Doctor stopped him by surrounding his waist with his arms and pulling him toward his chest.

“No! Wait! No!”

“Doctor?” asked Harry worried.

“Shadow. Look.”

Harry turned without leaving his arms and saw a large shadow extending from the middle of the room to a side, just where he had been about to step.

“What about it?”

“Count the shadows.”

“One. What…?” the wizard stopped. Something was very wrong with that. “Doctor… what’s making that shadow?”

Slowly, both looked up. There was nothing there that could create such a shadow. The only thing they could see was the sky.

Suddenly, the Doctor shouted and jumped back, frightening the teen.

“I’m thick! I’m old and thick. I have a head filled of things, I need a bigger head!”

The man looked in a corridor and they saw the light of a lamp flicker until it nearly disappeared.

“The light’s going.”

“This place works with vision cells. They’re more potent than the sun.”

“Then why is it dark?”

“It’s not dark.” muttered the Time Lord.

With a little of fear, the teen looked back to where the impossible shadow was and his eyes widened. He tugged on the man’s jacket to get his attention and pointed.

“The shadow. It’s gone.”

Something seemed to click on the man’s mind.

“We need to get back to the TARDIS.” urged.

“Why?”

“Because that shadow hasn’t gone. It’s moved.”

They looked around suspiciously at all the shadowy places surrounding them until the earlier node spoke.

“Reminding: The Library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminding: The Library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminding: The Library has been breached…”

A loud and bright explosion interrupted the node and a door opened. They could see something moving between the white smoke and a figure entered, followed by five more. It seemed to be dressed in a white spacesuit. The node continued repeating the warning, but they paid no mind to it.

The first figure on the spacesuit that had entered approached them and stopped in front of the Doctor, where the visor cleared so that they could see a woman smiling.

“Hello, sweetie.”

“Well, I think we’ve just discovered who sent us here.” whispered Harry.

“Get out.” said the man looking at them.

“Doctor.” called Harry.

“All of you, get back in your rocket and fly away. Tell your grandchildren that you came to The Library and lived, they won’t believe you!”

“Take off your helmets. They’re breathing.” ordered the woman.

“How do you know they’re not androids?” asked one of the figures.

“Cause I dated an android, they’re silly.” said the woman.

“Who is this?” asked a man approaching her and looking at the Doctor. “You said we would be the only expedition. I paid for the exclusive.”

“I lied. I always lie. There have to be others.”

“Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts.” said the man to a pretty girl with black hair.

“Did you enter by the north door? How was that? Much damage?”

“Please, just leave. I’m asking you seriously and properly, leave. Hang on, did you say expedition?” asked the Doctor looking at the men and women in spacesuits.

“My expedition.” said the man from before. “I funded it.”

“Ohhh… no, please, no. Tell me you aren’t archaeologists.” asked the man putting his hands on his hips over the blue suit under the jacket.

“Do you have problems with the archaeologists?” asked the woman.

“I’m a time traveller. I point and laugh at the archaeologists.” answered the man.

The blonde woman laughed and Harry had to hide a little smile. She extended a hand and the Time Lord shook it.

“Professor River Song. Archaeologist.”

“River Song. Pretty name.” praised the man pulling her over to the other spacemen. “When you leave, and you’re leaving now, you need to set a quarantine on the planet. The whole planet. Nobody comes near, for ever again. Not one living thing. Not here, not ever… stop right there!”

The exclamation made pause a woman that had being nearing the more shadowy part of the room and the Doctor caught her.

“What’s your name?”

“Anita.”

“Anita.” repeated the Time Lord. “Stay away from the shadows. Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows, till your safely back in your ship. Goes for all of you, stay in the light.” Harry saw with surprise that the blond woman, River Song, didn’t seem surprised by the man’s behaviour. “Find a good bright spot and stay there. If you understand me look very, very scared.”

The Doctor looked at them all in silence for a moment and nobody moved. Harry could see that they were taking him for a crazy. River Song was even smiling.

“No, a bit more scared than that.” the black haired girl blinked and the man gave up. “Okay, enough for now. You, who are you?”

“Dave.” said a black skinned man at the back of the group.

“Okay, Dave.”

“Oh, well, other Dave, cause he is the first Dave, the pilot.” said pointing at another man. “He was the first Dave, so when…”

“Other Dave, the way you came, is the same as before?” interrupted the time traveller walking with him to the door they had come by.

“Yeah, oh wait, it’s a bit darker.”

“How much darker?”

“Well, I could see the way we came in…”

“Seal the door. We’ll find another exit.”

“Who are you?” asked Other Dave.

“We’re not looking for a way out. Miss Evangelista.” contradicted the man that funded the expedition.

“Oh, eh, I’m mister Lux’s personal everything.” presented herself the pretty girl from before extending some papers toward Harry and the Doctor. “You need to sign these contracts saying that you’re individual experiences at The Library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation.”

“Right, give it to me.” said the Doctor taking one of the contracts.

He didn’t even read it before just tearing it in half and repeating the same motion again.

Harry felt a little sorry for the girl when he saw her face and gave her an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, I don’t sign anything without my lawyer present.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow towards him and he shrugged. It was true, after all. He never signed anything without his goblin lawyer present.

“My family built this library. I have rights.” protested the man, mister Lux.

“You have a mouth that never closes.” intervened River Song. “Do you think there’s danger?”

“Something came to this library and killed everything in it. Killed a whole world. Danger? Could be.” stated the Doctor.

“That was a hundred years ago. The Library’s being silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here is long dead.” replied she.

“Bet your life?”

“Always.”

Harry saw a side of the Doctor’s mouth twitch and knew he was containing a grin. He didn’t.

“What are you doing?”

They looked back to see mister Lux talking to Other Dave.

“He said to seal the door.”

“You’re taking orders from him?”

“Appalling, isn’t it?” said the Doctor taking the lantern from mister Lux’s hand and returning to the centre of the room.

The man pointed the light to the shadows and Harry approached.

“Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they’re wrong. Cause it’s not irrational. It’s Vashta Nerada.”

“What’s Vashta Nerada?”

“Shadows in the dark. It’s what’s always in the dark.” whispered before jumping back. “Lights! That’s what we need! You got lights?”

“What for?”

“Form a circle, a safe area as large as possible, with the lights to the outside.”

“Why?” asked Anita.

“Do as he says.” ordered the professor.

“You’re going to listen to this man?” protested mister Lux as if she was crazy for even suggesting it.

“So it seems. Anita, take out the lights. Other Dave, secure the door. Then, help Anita. Mister Lux, put back on the helmet and lock the viewer. First Dave, search for an active terminal. I want you to access the database and see what you find of what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty Boy, you with me.”

“Professor River Song, why am I the only one wearing the helmet?” asked mister Lux.

“I don’t fancy you.” answered the professor truthfully.

Harry laughed at that and the woman winked at him.

“That’s better. You were being too quiet, Harry.”

The teen was surprised. How did she know his name? Neither he nor the Doctor had said it. He looked back to see what the man had to say about that and found him near First Dave.

“Probably I can help.” said putting on his glasses.

“Pretty Boy, come with me I said!”

Harry smiled at the Doctor while the man looked around in confusion.

“Oh, I’m Pretty Boy, aren’t I?”

“Yeah.”

“Pretty?”

“I think handsome is the appropriate word, but yeah.” blushed Harry.

“So… I’m handsome?”

The Doctor approached him with a charming smile and his blush darkened.

“Oi, you lovebirds! Leave it for later!”

The Time Lord gave a mild glare to the blond woman and followed after a last wink to the human.

“Don’t let your shadows touch each other’s. Any shadow could be infected.” warned.

“How could a shadow be infected?” voiced Other Dave.

Harry turned his attention to the working group.

“Excuse me, can I help?”

“No, we’re fine.” said Anita after glancing at Other Dave as if in a private joke.

“I could, you know, hold things.” tried again Miss Evangelist.

“No, really, we’re okay.” answered this time Other Dave.

“Okay.” nodded she moving out of the way.

Harry saw the looks Other Dave and Anita were giving each other and frowned.

“Couldn’t she help?”

“Trust me, I’ve spent four days in a ship with her and she is… ah…”

“Couldn’t tell the difference between the scape lump and the bathroom. We had to go back for her. Twice.” finished Anita trying to contain a laugh.

Harry didn’t say anything.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was sitting on a table while River Song took a blue book out of her bag.

“Thanks.” muttered she.

“For what?”

“For the same as always. Coming when I call you.

“It was you? You sent us the coordinates?”

“You do a good job acting as if you don’t know me. There must be a good reason.”

“A pretty good one, in fact.”

“Okay, do we review it then? Where are we this time?” started the blonde. “Going by your face, I would say we’re in your first times, yeah? Hum, so… the Bizantium’s fall, have we already been there?” She waited for an answer but it never came. “Obviously, still not.” She continued looking in the book and a fond smile crossed her face. “Oh, picnic in Asgard. Have we already been in Asgard?” the Doctor remained silent. “Obviously not.” sighed she. You’re very early, then. Ah, the live with a time traveller. I didn’t know it could be such a hard job.”

The woman stopped looking at the book and looked at him very carefully.

“Look at you. You’re young.”

“Oh, I’m really not young.”

“Oh, but you are. Your eyes… you’re younger than I’ve ever seen you.” said she stroking his cheek. “And Harry too.”

“So you’ve seen us before?” asked the Time Lord looking at her hand and pulling it away.

He had seen how his little emerald had looked away at the familiar gesture of the professor.

Suddenly, the woman seemed very serious and incredibly sad.

“Doctor, please, tell me you know who I am.”

The Doctor looked at her and back at Harry.

“Who are you?”

An alarm flared and it sounded similar to a telephone.

“Sorry, it’s me.” announced First Dave. “I’m trying to surpass the security protocols. It seems I’ve connected to something. What’s that? It’s an alarm?”

“Doctor, that sounds like a…”

“A telephone.” finished the man.

“I’m trying to call to the information core but it doesn’t answer. Just that sound.” explained Dave.

“It’s a phone.”

“Let me try it.” requested the Time Lord tapping into the keyboard.

Everyone gathered around the screen.

“Access denied. I don’t like this. I’ll try something different.”

Nobody could deny their surprise when a little girl appeared on the screen.

“Hello?” said the Doctor.

“Hello.” answered the girl hesitantly. “Are you on my television?”

“Well… no, no. It’s outer space. I was trying to access the core of a computer with triple lock of security.”

“Do you want to talk with my dad?”

“Your dad or your mum, the one that’s available.”

She looked confused for a moment.

“I know you.” said the girl suddenly. “You’re in my library.”

“Your library?”

“The Library’s never being in television before. What have you done?”

The girl seemed distressed and the Doctor struggled to find an answer.

“I-I… I just…”

The image disappeared.

“What happened?” asked River Song. “Who was that?”

_Access denied_ , read the screen.

“I need another terminal.”

The Doctor went back to the centre of the room.

“Keep working on those lights!” shouted while jumping over a desk to try another computer.

“You’ve heard him! Make sure there’s light!” said the professor taking off after him.

The Doctor was working on the new terminal when he saw the blue book that River Song carried with her. He felt temptation and gave in, catching the book, but the blonde archaeologist stopped him.

“Sorry. We’re not allowed to see inside the book. It’s against the rules.”

“What rules?”

“Your rules.”

The woman left with the book and Harry looked at the Doctor from the other side of the room. The Time Lord saw it and gave a slight smile to the human before looking back to the computer.

Books starting to fly from their places, nearly hitting them various times, startled them.

“I didn’t do it. And you?” asked the Doctor.

“It wasn’t me.”

_Access denied_.

“What’s CAL?”

Soon the books stopped falling and Harry approached Miss Evangelista, seeing the distress the poor girl was feeling clear as water.

“Are you alright?”

“What was that?” asked she nervously. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know.” answered one of the new guys.

That did nothing to calm the poor teenager, for she couldn’t be much older than Harry himself.

“Don’t worry, miss. Everything will be alright.” Harry thought of something to keep her mind away from the strange happening. “It was very kind of you to offer your help with the lights earlier.”

“They don’t want me.” confided she in her nervousness. “They think I’m stupid cause I’m pretty.”

“Well, that’s true. You’re very pretty. But they shouldn’t judge you upon that. Jealousy tends to make people act different towards others.”

“My father said that I have the plankton’s intelligence. And it pleased me.”

The wizard regarded her seriously. She didn’t seem the smartest person, but that didn’t mean she was completely stupid. He had met people with less intelligence, that he was sure of. And even if she weren’t smart, she was still a person. The way her comrades treated her…

“There are many different types of intelligence, miss. I’m sure you have your own type. There has to be something you’re really good at. It doesn’t matter what they think of you, what matters is what you think of yourself. Do you really think you’re stupid?”

She hesitated before shaking her head. The wizard smiled.

“See? You can’t be stupid if you know you aren’t.”

She nodded and smiled, but then more books fell and she was nervous again. The wizard took her hands in his to comfort her and tried to find another topic to stop her from panicking.

“What’s causing that?” asked again the Doctor.

“Is it the little girl?”

“But who’s the little girl?” replied the man. “What’s she got to do with this place?”

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“How does the date core work? What’s its principle? What’s CAL?” asked the Doctor a while later.

“Ask mister Lux.” answered River Song.

“CAL. What is it?” asked this time looking directly at mister Lux.

“Sorry, you didn’t sign your personal experience contract.” said the man looking at the Doctor and then at Harry.

The Time Lord jumped down from where he had been perched atop a desk and neared the man.

“Mister Lux, right now, you’re in more danger than you’ve ever been in your whole life. And you’re protecting a patent.”

“I’m protecting my family’s pride.” replied he.

Harry sensed there was more to that statement than it seemed and closed his eyes, expanding his consciousness through his magic to sense the place, the planet.

“Well, funny thing mister Lux, I don’t want to see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important.” vaguely heard the Doctor saying.

He couldn’t contain a gasp when he found it. If he had been a normal wizard, he wouldn’t have sensed anything, but he wasn’t. The awareness his magic had was something never seen before, something unique, and it allowed him to sense many more things. Like a magnified conscience.

“Harry?” asked the Doctor with worry.

“It’s much more than that, isn’t it, mister Lux?” muttered opening his eyes. “That pride you talk about… We won’t be able to help if you don’t tell us anything. We have no interest, whatsoever, in taking the exclusive from you. We just want to get out of here alive.”

The man looked at him with doubt, but answered the questions of the Doctor.

“Okay, okay, let’s begin at the beginning. What happened here?” said the Doctor still looking worried at Harry. “On the actual day, a hundred years ago, what physically happened?”

“There was a message from The Library. The lights are going out and the computer’s sealed the planet. There was nothing for a hundred years. It’s taken three generations from my family just to decode the seals and get back in.”

“Hum, excuse me…”

“Not just now.” told her boss to Evangelista.

“There was one more thing in the message.” said the professor looking for something in her bag.

“That’s confidential.” interrupted mister Lux making Harry sigh.

“I trust this man with my life. With everything. And the same goes for his companion.”

“You’ve just met them!” exclaimed mister Lux.

“No, they’ve just met me.”

Then it clicked in the wizard’s mind. She knew them even though they didn’t know her. It would normally be impossible for her to have met them without them meeting her, but they were forgetting something: they travelled in time.

“You met us in your past. Our future.” concluded the wizard aloud.

“Sharp as always, even so young.” grinned the professor looking at him with warm eyes.

The teen blushed at the compliment and saw the Doctor smiling in understanding from the corner of his eye.

Though that made him wonder who she was. She acted as if she knew them well. He had been a little sad when he had seen the way she had spoken to the Doctor before, so intimately.

As if knowing what he was thinking, she gave him a warm smile, bright with understanding. Somehow, it made him relax. He supposed he would discover her identity in time.

“4022 saved. No survivors.” The Doctor reading that aloud took him out of his musings.

“4022 was the exact number of people there was in The Library when it sealed itself.” said River Song.

“How can 4022 people be saved if there were no survivors?” couldn’t help but ask the younger of the room.

“That’s what we’re here to find out.” said River Song.

“And, until now, we haven’t found any body.” added mister Lux.

The professor looked at Harry and lowered her voice so only he and the Doctor heard her next words.

“Can you feel, you know, Death here? Have there been any sudden large numbers of deaths?”

“How would he be able to do that?” asked lowly the Time Lord.

She looked at Harry apologetically.

“You still haven’t told him?”

“Told me what? About being a wizard?” the man raised an eyebrow at her but her gaze was intently searching in Harry’s eyes.

“No. To both questions.” Then the emerald eyed teen looked at the Doctor with worry. “I was waiting for a good opportunity. I promise I’ll explain you everything later, okay?”

The Time Lord nodded seriously before giving him a soft smile.

“You don’t have to worry, little one. I already told you I would wait till you’re ready.”

The man was leaning in to kiss his beautiful companion, not minding the presence of the other humans, when they heard a loud scream.

They looked around and saw a sliding panel open on the door. Without hesitation, the Doctor went through it and the others followed, breaking into a run.

They went through a corridor to another room and the Doctor paused with his lantern pointed at a throne-like chair.

His face was grim and Harry understood why when he reached his side. He could feel the recent death. It hadn’t been a painless one, though it had been quick. Numbness overcame him.

“Everybody, be careful. Stay in the lights.”

“I’m sorry but I don’t see the point.” said First Dave.

How thick was that man? It reaffirmed his believes that future humans were even worse than the ones from his time. At least some of them.

“Who screamed?”

“Miss Evangelista.”

“And where is she?”

The professor activated what they could only guess was a communication device.

“Miss Evangelista, please, state your current…” River Song looked at the chair the Doctor had been looking at and they saw that she too understood. “Please, state your current…” the woman touched the spacesuit of the skeleton lying against the seat. “…position.”

The woman moved a piece with the same communicator they used. It still had a bright green light.

“Is she.” whispered the blonde woman. “Is Miss Evangelista.”

“We heard her scream just a few moments ago. What can do that to a person in just a few seconds?” asked Anita.

“It took a lot less than a few seconds.”

“What was?” repeated she.

“Hello?” it was Miss Evangelista’s voice.

“I’m sorry, guys. This isn’t going to be pleasant.” muttered River Song. “She’s ghosting.”

That took the younger one out of his shock and he berated himself. He had seen much worse things than a skeleton. However, it was always shocking when you knew the victim. It was never easier, no matter how many times you saw it.

“Hello? Hello?” repeated the female voice. “Excuse me, hello? Excuse me?”

“Is she really? The voice, I mean.”

“Yeah. It’s like an echo.” whispered the Time Lord.

“I don’t want to sound horrible but, couldn’t we… you know…”

Harry looked at First Dave, remembered the girl he had been speaking with just some minutes ago and snapped at him.

“Do you have no respect?”

“These are her last moments, so no. As Harry’s said, a little respect, thank you.” agreed the professor.

The Doctor could clearly see that Harry was reliving some unpleasant memories and looked worried for his emerald.

“Hello? Where am I? Excuse me?”

“She’s trapped.”

“It’s a date ghost. Should be gone in a moment.” explained the professor before touching the com again. “Miss Evangelist, you’re fine, just relax. We’ll be here with you.”

She wasn’t a real ghost. She hadn’t had magic, he had felt none on her, and a ghost needed magic to exist. At least, ghosts as he knew them. He could feel she was slowly fading.

“What’s a date ghost?”

“It’s a neuronal transmitter in the communicator. It sends mental mails.” explained the Doctor. “It’s right there. Those green lights. Sometimes it can leave the impression of a living conscience for a short while after the death. Like an after image.”

“My grandfather lasted a day.” shared Anita. “Talking about his shoe laces.”

Harry sighed and looked at the skeleton that, just some minutes ago, had been a pretty nervous young girl.

Seeing the faces of the men and women gathered around what was left of the body, he couldn’t help but agree once more in something Dumbledore had once told him. Pity the living, not the death.

It would be this team of humans that would have to live with the memories of the way they had treated Miss Evangelista, not she.

He could already see their regret. Too little, too late. But better late than never. They would learn from this. And that’s what living was about.

“I can’t see. I can’t feel. I can’t… where am I?”

“Now it’s only mental waves. The patron won’t hold for long.” announced First Dave.

“I can’t feel. I can’t… I don’t know what I’m thinking.”

“She’s a footprint on the beach. And the tide’s coming.”

“At least I know she won’t suffer anymore.” whispered the wizard to himself.

“Where’s that man? The kind man? Is he there?” asked Miss Evangelista’s voice.

“What man?” wondered mister Lux looking around.

“I saw you two talking back there.” muttered the Doctor looking at Harry. “She means you, doesn’t she?”

The wizard gulped and looked at the bones of the girl before nodding and looking back at the Doctor.

“Is he there? The kind man?”

“Yes, he’s here. Hang on a moment.” professor River Song touched a button on her com and looked at the teen. “Go ahead. She can hear you.”

“Hello? Are you there?”

Harry froze, still looking at the Doctor.

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Then, you don’t have to.” said the Time Lord looking him in the eyes very seriously. “You don’t have to do any more than you’re sure you can handle.”

There was no judgement in the man’s eyes when gazing at him and it was that, that knowledge that he would still be there even if he said no, that gave him the necessary strength. It was the realization that the Doctor didn’t expect more from him than he was ready to give that gave him the push he needed.

“Hello, Miss Evangelista?” whispered still looking at the man’s eyes, drawing strength from his presence.

“Hello? Is that the kind man?” asked the girl’s voice making him look back at the skeleton and breathe deeply.

“Yeah, hello. I’m here. Can I help you with something?”

He felt two strong arms wrap around his waist and he didn’t have to look back to know that the Doctor was there for him.

For his part, the Time Lord was watching his little one in great concern. He didn’t want his emerald to do something he was not ready for. Nor did he want him to think that he would reject him for not doing this. He wanted his green eyed little wizard to know that he would always be there, no matter the choices he made.

“What I told you before, about being silly… don’t tell the others. They’ll only laugh.”

“Of course I won’t. Of course I won’t tell them.” lied the wizard.

Normally, he was not good at telling lies, but this time he had to. It wouldn’t be the first time he had to reassure someone that was dying or already dead, like sir Nicholas, the ghost of Gryffindor. It wasn’t so different and it was always better to lie.

“Don’t tell the others. They’ll only laugh.”

“I won’t tell them. It’ll be our secret.”

“Don’t tell the others. They’ll only laugh.”

“I’m not going to tell them.” repeated Harry looking at them helplessly.

“Don’t tell the others. They’ll only laugh.”

“She’s entered a spiral. The patron’s degrading.” explained River Song.

“I can’t think. I-don’t know… I-I-I-Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream.”

“Do any of you mind if I…” the professor didn’t finish the sentence, but she didn’t need to.

“Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream.”

The blonde approached the skeleton and disconnected the communicator. The wizard could feel his body trembling a little and the arms around him turned him around.

The Doctor enveloped his little one in a tight hug and kissed the crown of his head sweetly. His precious teen hid his face in his chest and, slowly, stopped shaking.

“You’ve done well, little one. You’ve done very well.” whispered in his ear.

The Time Lord rubbed comforting circles on his back and pressed another kiss to his forehead when the wizard pulled back.

“Better?” asked in a low voice while delicately sweeping a solitary tear from his cheek.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You’re very welcome.”

His emerald smiled sadly and gave a slight squeeze to his hand. They turned to see the others still looking at the skeleton, giving them a little privacy.

“Whatever did this to her… Whatever killed her… I’d like to talk with that.” muttered River Song.

“I’ll introduce you.” agreed the Doctor firmly.

The man gave a last squeeze to the teen’s hand and led the way back to the room where they had previously been.

With a last backwards glance at the skeleton lying there, Harry followed his Doctor, hoping that no one else would end like that but knowing that hope wouldn’t be enough to save them all.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“I’m going to need a pack lunch.” was the first thing the Doctor shouted after getting to the room where their things were.

River Song and Harry where just behind him while he continued pointing the lantern at the shadows and the woman rummaged in a bag.

“Hang on.” muttered she.

While searching for the lunch pack, the professor took the blue book she had been carrying since the beginning.

“What’s in that book?” asked the Doctor kneeling down at her side.

“Spoilers.” answered the woman barely glancing at him.

“Who are you?” asked the Doctor.

“Professor River Song, from the University of…”

“For me. For us.” Interrupted the man looking back at where his little wizard stood. “Who are you to us?”

“Again, spoilers.” she took a box of food. “Chicken and a side salad. Knock yourself out.”

The Time Lord looked her intently in the eyes for a few seconds and took the box, not commenting anything.

“Well, you guys,” started the time traveller flipping the lantern in the air and standing. “let’s all meet the Vashta Nerada.”

They saw with confusion as he kneeled beside the furniture, moving around the room and pointing his sonic screwdriver at the shadows surrounding all them.

“How long have you already been travelling with him?” asked River Song to Harry. “With the Doctor.”

“This is the second planet we visit together.” answered Harry deciding it didn’t do any wrong to be truthful with her.

She had stated that she knew them in the future, but they still didn’t know her. That meant this was the time when they had met her for the first time, and probably the last one that she saw them.

“Then you’ve barely started.” noted she with surprise.

Their attention returned to the Doctor when he spoke again.

“First Dave, could you move a bit?”

“Why?” inquired the man from his place sitting on a desk.

“Go over there, near the water tank.”

The man stood and did as asked with resignation. The present wizard’s attention returned to the blonde woman.

“You know us well?”

“Oh, yes. Pretty well. We’ve met many times, but in the future. Your future.”

The teen nodded and glanced at the man for a second, seeing him crawling towards another desk.

“It’s so strange to think that you don’t know me… I sent you a message, but it got to you too early. These are the days before you knew me. You look at me and you look through me. It shouldn’t hurt, but it does.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe next time we see you we’ll be able to really look at you. Right now, we know nothing about who you are. But maybe this adventure is exactly what made us able to start looking at you, don’t you think?”

“You’re always so mature… it’s hard to keep in mind that you’re still so young.” muttered she with a smile. “But you’re right.”

“What are you two talking about back there? Conspiring against me?” asked the Doctor without looking away from where he was working on the shadows.

“Yes, we’re planning the best way to convince you that studying archaeology would be the best choice for your future.” stated Harry seriously.

The man stopped what he was doing to look back at them with horror and both broke down in laughter.

The Time Lord scowled at them, though there was not anger in his eyes but amusement at the impish shine in the teen’s eyes, and raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t really think you would be able.”

“Oh, maybe I wouldn’t, but Harry… do you already have those tight leather pants, dear?”

The wizard blushed at the comment and the false leer the professor gave him, but nodded nonetheless. He had many of those in his trunk.

Meanwhile, the Doctor’s mind had gone blank at the image of his little emerald wearing something like that. He really hoped they had been joking, because he was not sure he would be able to deny anything to his teen in that case.

He was dying to see him wearing those pants, though his mind judged that his little emerald would look even better in the finest silk…

“Could we, please, focus in the matter at hand?” asked mister Lux.

The Doctor jerked and nodded, going back to what he was doing after glaring at the others that were now giving leers to his little one. He didn’t see the wink exchanged between the teen and the blonde woman.

“Okay, we have one alive!” informed the Doctor jumping up some seconds later and leaving the lantern pointing at the shadows. “It’s not darkness that’s on the corridors. This is not a shadow.” He took the box of chicken and kneeled again with Harry at his side. “It’s a swarm. A man-eating swarm.”

He then took one of the chicken legs and threw it at the shadows under a table. The instant it touched the darkness, all the meat disappeared and the only thing left was a completely clean chicken bone.

“The piranhas of the air. The Vashta Nerada. Literally, the shadows that melt the flesh.” everyone listened very carefully to the Time Lord’s explanation. “Almost all planets have them, but usually in small groups. I’ve never seen an infestation of this scale or as aggressive.”

“Why almost? The Earth not?” frowned Harry.

“Yes, the Earth and millions of other planets. Where there’s meat, there’s Vashta Nerada. Sometimes you can see them, if you look at the dust in the sunbeams.”

“It sounds familiar…”

“Is there something like this in your… world?”

“Right now, I’m not sure. It sounds familiar, but I cannot place where I heard it.” the wizard sounded frustrated.

“Every shadow?” asked River Song.

“No… but any shadow.”

“So what do we do?”

“Daleks, point to the eyes; Sontarans, back of the neck; Vashta Nerada…” the Time Lord turned to look her in the eyes. “…run. Just run.”

That did nothing to calm them. In fact, it only seemed to make them even more nervous.

“Run? Run where?” asked the professor.

“There must be a teleport transport somewhere.” said looking at mister Lux.

“Don’t look at me. I didn’t memorize the planes.” stated he.

“Doctor, we’re in the shop. Don’t muggles always put the shop on the exit?” asked Harry suddenly remembering his only trip to the zoo.

“You’re right!” exclaimed the man running to the door pointed as the exit to look out before going back to the group. “Brilliant. That’s why I like the shop.”

“Okay, let’s move then!” shouted First Dave moving to the door.

“Actually, First Dave, could you wait there for a moment?”

The human did as the Doctor asked him and stopped at the centre of the room.

“Why?”

“I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry. But you’ve got two shadows.” explained the time traveller putting himself in front of the pilot.

Everyone looked down and saw that, effectively, the human had another shadow apart from his own. The man’s face showed fear, as it should.

“It’s how they hunt. They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh.”

“What do I do?” asked the man, for the first time requesting the Time Lord’s help.

“Stay still. Absolutely still. As if there was a wasp on the room. Millions of wasps in the room.”

“We’re not leaving you, Dave.” comforted River Song.

“Of course we’re not leaving you.” retorted the Time Lord. “Where’s your helmet? Don’t point, you just tell me.” ordered the time traveller in a calm voice.

“On the floor, by my bag.” was the frightened answer.

“Don’t cross his shadow!” warned the Doctor when Anita nearly stepped on it to grab the helmet.

She carefully rounded the two shadows and grabbed the helmet, passing it to the Doctor.

“Thanks.” muttered he before putting it over First Dave’s head. “Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and seal them. We need all we’ve got.”

“What do we do?”

“Don’t touch the shadows. Be very careful, Harry, and don’t touch the shadows.”

The teen nodded seriously and did as asked, keeping himself as far from the shadows in the room as he could.

“Professor! Is there something that can be done with the suits?” asked the Doctor.

“Forget about the damn suits!” demanded mister Lux clearly a little hysteric. “Miss Evangelista was wearing one and there was nothing left!”

“We’ll increase the mass density over the four hundred per cent. We’ll make a tougher meal.”

“Okay. Eight hundred per cent. Pass it on.” said the Doctor giving the sonic screwdriver to the professor after using it to up the mass density of First Dave’s suit.

“Got it.” she showed another one.

“What’s that?”

“A screwdriver.” answered the blonde.

“It’s sonic.”

“Yeah, I know. Snap.”

The woman went around, upping the mass density of all the suits. After a moment, the Time Lord snapped out of wherever his mind was and took Harry by the arm.

“With me, come on.”

The man pocketed his screwdriver and dragged him by the door to the exit.

“What are we doing? I don’t think it’s the right time to go shopping.” joked Harry.

“Harry, come on, move.” The man dragged him onto a platform and went to a reading desk, once more taking out his screwdriver. “It’s a teleportation point. I can’t send the others, the TARDIS wouldn’t recognise them.”

“What are you doing?” asked the wizard suspiciously.

“Without a suit you’re in danger.”

Harry hopped down from the circle he stood on and looked at the man with raised eyebrows.

“Harry…”

“You don’t have a suit, so you’re in danger too. I’m not leaving you alone.”

“Harry, please…”

“Besides, magic and technology don’t mix well. You could try to teleport me and my magic will probably see it as a threat. Then, it would lash out and fry the teleport, probably before I rematerialize.”

The man blinked, befuddled.

“So… no teleportation. It’s good that I haven’t used it, then.”

“Yeah.” agreed the wizard.

“Okay, stand by me and be careful.” instructed the man starting to walk back to the others.

Harry grabbed his hand to stop him for a moment.

“Doctor, remember what you told me yesterday? You said that, from now on, wherever we go, we go together. That applies here too. It may be dangerous for me, but so it’s for you. And I worry just as much, but we have to get used to it. Are you going to let me send you to the TARDIS if we’re ever in danger in the magical world?”

The Time Lord looked him in the eyes for a moment longer before leaning in and kissing him with passion.

The man tried to pour all his worry, protectiveness and gratefulness towards his companion in that kiss, leaving him dazed when he pulled away.

“Come on, we still have an adventure to live, together.”

“Doctor!” called River Song.

Harry was still smiling when the Time Lord dragged him back to the room. They saw everyone looking at First Dave. They noticed then that he only had one shadow.

“Where did it go?” asked the Doctor, perplexed.

“It’s disappeared. I’ve looked and there was only one shadow.” said First Dave just as surprised.

“Then, can we leave? I don’t want to stay here.” intervened River Song while watching the Doctor look around First Dave.

“I don’t know why we’re still here. We can leave him here, no? I mean, no offense.” said mister Lux.

“Shut up, mister Lux.” ordered River Song.

“Did you feel something? Like energy transference? Anything?”

“No! No, but look! I-It’s gone!” exclaimed First Dave turning around.

“Stop there! Stop, stop there, stop moving!” exclaimed the Doctor. “They never leave, they never give up.”

The Time Lord kneeled down besides the now lonely shadow and used his screwdriver to scan it.

“Hum, this one’s benign.”

“Hey! Who turned out the light?” shouted First Dave.

“No one did. It’s on.” answered the Doctor confused.

“No, really, turn it back on.”

“It’s on.”

“I can’t see absolutely nothing.”

“Dave, turn around.” requested the Time Lord.

Slowly, the man turned around again till they could see his face, or the place where it should have been. They could only see darkness through the viewer of the suit’s helmet.

“What’s happening? I can’t see. Is the electricity gone? Are we safe here?”

Harry gulped and contained his breath. Could the Vashta Nerada have already found a way to enter the suit?

“Dave, I want you to remain still. Completely still.” suddenly, the man stilled and shouted in pain. “Dave! Dave, Dave! Are you hearing me? Talk to me, Dave!”

The man went quiet just as suddenly as he had shouted out.

“I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“I want you to stay still. Absolutely still.” repeated the Time Lord.

“I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine. I- can’t- why can’t I… I- can’t- why can’t I… I- can’t- why can’t I…”

The Doctor was the first to notice that the green lights of the communicator in the suit were slowly going off. Just as they had done when Miss Evangelista’s date ghost started to disappear.

Harry didn’t see that, but he had his own way of knowing when death was around.

“He’s gone. It’s a date ghost.” explained River Song.

“I- can’t- why can’t I…”

His beautiful wizard’s face reflected his understanding and sadness, but the Doctor didn’t think he was regretting staying with him.

“Then, why is he still standing?” voiced mister Lux.

“Hey! Who turned out the lights? Hey! Who turned out the lights?”

The Doctor started to slowly approach the man, trying to see through the viewer of the suit.

“Doctor, don’t.” warned River Song.

The man ignored her, though his movements slowed even more.

“Dave, can you hear me?”

“Hey! Who turned out the lights?”

The Doctor was nearly touching him when the man grabbed him by the shoulders with enough strength to make him fall to his knees. The movement caused the dead man’s head to fall forward and they were able to see a skull through the viewer.

“Hey! Who turned out the lights?”

The Doctor tried to free himself, but the body on the space suit had a too strong grip on him.

“Hey! Who turned out the lights?”

Harry’s war reflexes kicked in and the wizard used a simple repelling charm to repel the skeleton’s arms from the Doctor’s shoulders.

The Time Lord crawled backwards and stood up with his little wizard’s help. Dave’s voice continued asking about the lights.

“Get away from here! Walk back!” shouted the man to the others.

They saw with shocked eyes as the skeleton in the space suit gave a step forward.

“It doesn’t move very fast, does it?” voiced the professor.

“It’s a swarm in a suit. But it’s learning.”

They watched as more shadows appeared around the body of Dave and they started to grow and grow towards them. They realized then that those weren’t shadows but swarms.

“What do we do? Where do we go?” asked mister Lux nearly panicking.

The older time traveller used an arm to keep the younger one at his back and looked around for an escape.

“See that wall behind you?” asked River Song suddenly.

The group looked back at where she was pointing and saw the wood wall she meant.

“Duck!” ordered the blonde.

They did just that and it was fortunate, because an instant later a beam of blue light shot from a gun on her hand, leaving a square hole on the wall right where Harry’s head had been. The wall had vanished where the gun had pointed.

“Are you crazy!? You could have shot Harry!” shouted the Doctor to the woman.

“Oh, come on, Harry’s better than that.” answered she without even batting an eyelash making the teen blink at her. “Everybody out! Run, run!”

They did as she ordered, exiting through the new hole and leaving behind the growing swarms.

“What was that?” asked Harry to the Doctor while he, again, dragged him out.

“Squareness gun.”

“Very original.”

Even in their situation, the Time Lord released a chuckle. They stopped at a corridor of the library.

“You said not every shadow.” muttered River Song looking around.

“But any shadow.”

“Who turned out the lights?”

The skeleton was still following them.

“Run!” shouted the professor.

They continued running along the corridor, the space suit with the skeleton controlled by swarms of Vashta Nerada walking after them.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

The wizard followed the Time Lord through the corridors of The Library, never getting too far behind him. They found a secluded corner and stopped to regain their breath. Somewhere along the run, Professor Song had taken off her helmet.

The Time Lord took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at a lamp.

“Doctor, what are you doing?” asked Harry looking nervously back at the place they had come through.

“I’m trying to up the power. The light doesn’t stop them, but it slows them down.”

“So, what’s the plan? Do we have a plan?” intervened River Song pointing her own screwdriver to the light and upping his power in only a few seconds.

“Your screwdriver. It’s exactly like mine.” muttered the Time Lord looking at her with his eyes a bit bigger than normal.

“Yes, you gave it to me.” answered she as if she was talking to an abnormally thick person.

“I don’t give my screwdriver to anyone.”

“I am not anyone.”

Harry looked away, but the Time Lord didn’t see that.

“Who are you?”

“What’s the plan?” asked she without answering the man’s question.

“I was going to teleport Harry to the TARDIS…”

“…but he wouldn’t leave you alone.” finished she with a fast smile in the teen’s direction.

“Never.” chirped the wizard happily.

The Doctor flashed him a quick fond grin before going back to looking serious.

“Harry, you said before that the Vashta Nerada reminded you of something…”

“Lethifold. My people call them lethifolds. They look like a black cloak that crawls over the earth at night. It normally attacks when its victim is sleeping and it leaves nothing of it. Not even the bones.”

“Similar to the Vashta Nerada. Interesting. It could be an evolved form…” hummed the Doctor.

“Is there any way to kill them?”

Harry hesitated but ended shaking his head.

“There’s never been a case of a wi-… of one of my people killing one. They’re not seen very often and their victims don’t usually survive.” the woman sighed. “However, they can be repelled. Though I don’t know if it would work against the Vashta Nerada.”

“What repels a lethifold?” asked the Doctor curiously.

“Light.”

“We already know that doesn’t work.” said Other Dave shaking his head.

“Not any light. The light of a happy memory.”

“A patronus.” whispered River Song in realization.

“Exactly.”

“What’s that?” asked the Doctor not liking been left out.

“It’s a guardian made of bright pure light powered by the happiest memories of a person.” explained the wizard.

“Something like that doesn’t exist.” protested mister Lux.

“If Harry says it does, then it…” started the Doctor.

“Hey! Who turned out the light?”

They turned around and saw that First Dave’s skeleton had caught up with them. They started to run and ended in a corridor without an exit.

“Doctor, what are we going to do?” asked the professor.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

In the end, it was River Song that had an idea. She pointed the squareness gun at a wall full of books and vanished it leaving a square hole to exit through.

“This way! Quickly!” shouted she.

“Move!” urged the Doctor.

He made sure that Harry and the others passed safely before going through the hole himself.

“Hey! Who turned out the lights?”

They continued making holes on the walls.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Okay, we’ve got a clear spot. In, in, in!” ordered Professor Song. “Form a circle in the middle of the light! Quickly! Do not let your shadows cross each other’s. Doctor!”

“I’m doing it.”

They had reached the same room as before and the Time Lord was now kneeling in the light with his sonic screwdriver pointed at the shadows.

“Sunset’s coming. We can’t stay long.” stated River Song looking at the Doctor. “Found one alive?”

“Maybe. It’s hard to tell. What’s wrong with you?” muttered the Doctor bumping the screwdriver against his hand.

“We’re going to need a chicken leg. Who has a chicken leg?” asked River Song a little frantic.

Sensing that, Harry hid his hand on his back and, with an effort to break another law of magic, conjured a chicken leg.

“Here.”

Everybody turned to look at him when he gave the woman a chicken leg.

“What?”

“Where did you get that?” asked Anita suspiciously.

“Always be ready.” was his only response.

River Song smiled slightly and took the offered meat.

“Thank you, Harry.”

She approached a bit the shadows and threw the chicken leg, but the only thing that touched the floor was the bone.

“Okay, we’ve got one alive. Careful with the feet.”

“They won’t attack till there are enough, but they’ve got our trail. They’re coming.” informed the Doctor standing.

The man went a little farther and Harry went after him. They heard as Other Dave, the only Dave now, started a conversation in low tones.

“Who are they? You haven’t told us, but expect us to trust them.”

“They’re the Doctor and Harry.”

“And who are they?” asked mister Lux.

“The only story you’ll tell, if you survive it.”

“You say they’re your friends, but they don’t even know who you are.” added Anita.

“The only thing you need to know is this: I would trust them till the end of the universe. In fact, they have saved it many times.”

“They don’t seem to trust you.” said Anita.

“Yeah, that’s the main problem here. They haven’t met me yet.” answered River Song finishing the talk.

The teen and the Doctor shared a look and Harry stood, walking back to the rest whilst River Song went to crouch near the Time Lord.

“What’s wrong with it?” asked the blonde seeing the Doctor hearing the sound of his screwdriver as if it were a phone.

“There’s a signal coming from somewhere that it’s interfering.”

“Use the red setting.”

The Doctor looked at her strangely.

“It doesn’t have a red setting.” said he as if it was something obvious.

“Use the dampers.” replied she.

“It hasn’t dampers.”

“It will have them one day.” said the woman giving him her own screwdriver.

The man took it and stood up.

“So, one day in the future, I’ll just give you my screwdriver.”

“Yes.”

“Why would I do that?”

“I didn’t take it from your cold dead hands, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

“And that I know because…?”

The man left the sentence unfinished and she sighed with serious resignation.

“Look, I understand, Doctor. We’re in danger, mortal danger, and Harry’s here. You’re scared for him. He’s too stubborn to leave you alone and let you send him somewhere safe. You fear you’ll fail him, that you won’t be able to get him out alive. But right now you need to stop being so emotional.”

“What? I’m not being emotional!” protested the Doctor.

“Yes, you are. Right now, there are six persons alive in this room. Focus on that! Focus on what you can do and save them. That’s the only way you can save Harry.” instructed the professor. “Dear god, you were difficult when you were young.”

“Young? Who are you!?”

“Oh, for god’s sake! Look at you! We’re going to die here and you are discussing like an old married couple!” intervened mister Lux standing up.

They both looked at each other, perplexed, before turning to see Harry looking at the floor. The man nearly cursed, remembering how insecure his beautiful wizard was. He didn’t want to send him mixed signals. He wasn’t attracted to anyone but him.

“We’re not and never will be an old married couple.” directed River Song to mister Lux, but clearly looking at Harry.

The young human blushed and ducked his head, ashamed at being read so easily. The Doctor had to give that to the mysterious woman, she knew them well.

“Doctor, one day, I’m going to be someone you will trust, but there’s not time for you to figure it out. You don’t have to trust me, you just have to trust Harry.”

The blonde woman didn’t wait for an answer and walked till she was in front of the young wizard.

“Harry, I need you to listen carefully to me. The only way for the Doctor to trust me even a little is if you trust me. I can only tell you this: ‘I solemnly swear I am up to no good and request the marauders help in the great and noble endeavour of causing mischief.’”

For a few seconds, Harry simply looked at her, stunned at hearing those words coming out of her mouth. Then, as if reaching a decision, he looked at the Doctor with seriousness.

“I think we can trust her, Doctor. At least, with this we can.”

“Are you sure?” asked the man still looking at her with distrust.

“Yeah.”

The man nodded and she smiled slightly at him before reaching out for her screwdriver and pocketing it.

“Something interesting about my screwdriver is that it’s very hard to interfere. Very hard. There’s nothing powerful enough.” suddenly said the man in that way he had of changing his mood in a second and making Harry smile fondly.

“Almost nothing.” added Harry.

“Yeah, some hair dryers can, but I’m working on that.” said the Time Lord starting to circle around them. “There’s a very strong signal coming from somewhere and it wasn’t there before. What’s new? What’s changed?”

Nobody answered.

“Come on! What’s new?” exclaimed the man. “What’s different?”

“I don’t know. Nothing. The sun’s setting.” said Other Dave.

“It’s a screwdriver. It works on the dark.”

Harry had to stop himself from snorting at the older time traveller’s words, but then looked up and noticed something.

“Doctor, the moon.”

Everyone looked up and, effectively, they saw the moon.

“The moon… Tell me about the moon. What’s there?”

“It’s not real. It was built as part of The Library. It’s a Doctor Moon.” explained mister Lux.

“What’s a Doctor Moon?” asked the Time Lord.

“A virus checker. Its purpose is to maintain the main computer in cord of the planet.”

“Hum, it’s still active. It’s sending signals, look.” the Doctor moved a few steps forward with the screwdriver pointing up and they saw as its noise increased.

“Someone somewhere inside The Library is alive and communicating with the moon. Or alive and drying his hair… No, the signal’s definitely coming from the moon. I lock it, but it’s trying to get out.”

The Doctor gave up and looked at Harry.

“There is live in this place, Doctor, but I cannot tell you more about its nature. I’ve never seen something like it.”

“Professor.”

“Just a moment.”

“It’s important.” insisted Anita. “I have two shadows.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her with big eyes before stepping back. She had, effectively, two shadows.

“Everyone, put on your helmets. Anita, I’ll give you yours.” instructed calmly professor River Song.

“It didn’t do First Dave any good.”

“Just keep it together, okay?”

“I’m keeping it together. I just cry. I’m about to die, it’s not as if I’m exaggerating.”

The professor carefully joined her helmet with the rest of her suit and the Doctor approached her, pointing his screwdriver to her viewer. It darkened.

“God, they’ve got inside.” whispered River Song.

“No, no, no, I’ve just tinted her visor. Maybe they’ll think they’re already in and leave her alone.” explained the Time Lord.

“You think it’ll work?”

“Maybe, we’re going to know. It’s a swarm. We don’t talk.”

“Can you see in there?” asked Other Dave to Anita.

“Not very much.” was her muffled response.

“Stay back. Stay back.” instructed the Doctor putting his arm in front of Harry in a protective gesture. “Professor, let’s talk.”

“What?” asked she adjusting her helmet.

“Down here.” muttered kneeling.

“As you’ve said, there are six persons alive here.”

“Yeah, and?”

Harry sensed something amiss with that statement and turned to look around. His eyes widened. How had he not noticed that before?

“So… why are there seven?”

Everybody turned around slowly to see what he meant. There, in front of a wall, was another body.

“Hey! Who turned out the lights?”

“Run!” shouted the Doctor.

Nobody have to be told twice.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

They run through bridges, passing other buildings without a pause to put as much distance between the walking skeleton and themselves as they could.

“Keep walking! Find a safe spot.” ordered the Doctor stopping.

“It’s a meat eating swarm in a suit. You can’t reason with it!” protested River Song.

“Five minutes.” said the man.

“Other Dave, stay with him.” ordered the woman to the man. “Drag him when he insists in staying. Two minutes, Doctor.”

“Go with them, Harry.”

“I’m staying with you.”

“I’ll follow in a second, Harry. Please, go with them.”

“You promise you’ll follow?”

“I swear.”

They looked each other in the eyes and, finally, Harry nodded. He turned around and run beside River Song.

The Doctor waited till his little emerald was gone before turning to the skeleton walking through the door. He approached it.

“Hey! Who turned out the light?”

“Do you hear that? Those words? It’s the very last thought of the man that wore that suit, before you entered inside and ate his flesh. It’s the soul of a man, trapped inside a neuronal transmitter, walking in circles forever.” stated the Doctor slowly stepping back as the skeleton walked forward. “If you don’t have the decency of letting it go, at least use it. Talk to me. It’s easy, it’s a neuronal transmitter. Just think, use it. Talk to me.”

“Who turned out the light?” repeated the corpse.

“The Vashta Nerada lives in the worlds of this system but hunts in the forests. What are you doing in a library?”

“We must leave, Doctor.” reminded Other Dave.

“One minute. You came to The Library to hunt, why? Tell me why!”

They saw as the suit stopped advancing and seemed to sway.

“We. Did not.”

The words were slow, but they undoubtedly weren’t Dave’s.

“Oh. Hello.”

“We did not.” repeated.

“Don’t worry, you’ll catch on quickly. You didn’t what?” asked the Doctor with raised eyebrows.

“We did not come here.”

The words were still slow but much surer.

“Of course you did. Of course you came here.”

“We come. From here.”

“From here?” repeated the Doctor confused.

“We hatched here.”

“You hatch on the trees. On spores of trees.” stated the Doctor very sure but still confused by what they were trying to say.

“These are our forests.”

“There’s no forest nearby. Look around you.” reasoned the Time Lord stepping forward.

“These are our forests.” emphasized the swarm.

“You are not in a forest. You’re in a library. There are no trees in a…” for the first time, the man seemed to truly look around and understand. “…library.”

“We must leave, Doctor.” insisted Other Dave.

The Doctor didn’t look back at him, still gazing at the things surrounding them since they entered. They had had the answer just in front of themselves all the time.

“Books. You came in the books.” muttered in realization. “Microspores in a million millions books.”

“We should go. Doctor!”

But the man wasn’t listening. He was looking out through a window at the expanse of The Library. The greatest library in history.

“Oh, look at that. The forest of the Vashta Nerada. Pulped, printed and bound. A million millions books, hatching shadows.” mumbled to himself rubbing the back of his neck.

“We should go. Doctor!”

That seemed to make something snap in his head and he turned around to see the black visor of Other Dave.

“Oh. Dave... Oh, Dave, I’m so sorry.” said he taking a few steps in his direction.

The fleshless skull fell forward till it was supported by the helmet. Looking back when he heard the other talk, he saw that they had him trapped.

“Hey! Who turned out the light?” First Dave stepped forward slowly.

“We should go, Doctor.” Other Dave did the same.

“I’m silly. I talk too much. I’m always chattering. I don’t stop talking for anything. Do you want to know why I’m still alive?” asked him talking very fast and looking between them.

The man took out his screwdriver and pointed it at the floor.

“I’m always near a door.”

A square piece of the floor under him opened and he fell. The two skeletons were left looking down at the overwhelmingly low floor of the planet.

However, the Doctor hadn’t really fallen. He was dangling from the building. He had promised, swore, to Harry that he would follow them.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Don’t worry. He adores you. In the end, everything will work out.” confided River Song looking at Harry from the corner of her eyes.

“That sounds prophetic. I don’t like prophecies.” answered Harry scrunching up his nose in a cute manner.

“Oh, believe me. I know.”

Night had fallen. They were in a safe room, surrounded by light, and River Song was pointing her own screwdriver at a round platform on the middle of the floor and Harry was sitting in a corner, revising his book of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’.

“You know… it’s funny I wish the Doctor was here.”

“The Doctor’s here, isn’t he? He’ll come back.” said Anita.

“Of course he will. He promised to Harry. But that’s not what I meant.” answered she taking a deep breath. “You know when you see a photograph of someone you know and it’s from years before you knew them? It’s like they’re not quite… finished. They’re not done yet. Yes, the Doctor’s here, Harry’s here. But they’re not quite… my Doctor and my Harry.” answered River Song standing in front of the woman. “With my Doctor, and my Harry, I’ve seen whole armies turn around and run away and he return calmly to the TARDIS and open the door with a snap of his fingers to let his companion enter before himself. The Doctor with his Harry and the TARDIS. Next stop: anywhere.”

“The future.” said a voice from the highest point of a wooden staircase.

Harry looked up from the book and smiled slightly at the sight of the Doctor descending the stairs, getting a wink from the Time Lord.

“Nobody can open the door of the TARDIS snapping his fingers. Well, except, probably, Harry. It doesn’t work that way.”

“It does for the Doctor. And nearly anything can be opened with a snap of Harry’s fingers.”

“It’s more complex than that.” pouted the wizard.

“You know, you’re very cute when you do that.” said River Song getting a mild glare from the Doctor.

“I’m not cute!” protested Harry blushing.

“Oh, but you’re beautiful and very cute when pouting.” contradicted the time traveller.

“I’m not beautiful.”

“We’ll discuss that later.” allowed the man with a smirk before going back to the point of the discussion. “I am the Doctor.”

“Yeah. Someday.” mumbled the woman under her breath.

The Doctor didn’t say anything, instead looking at Anita.

“How are you?”

“And Other Dave?” asked the professor noticing there was a man less than it should.

“He’s not coming. I’m sorry.”

Harry saw the pain the blonde woman felt at the loss and approached her. Touching her arm in a comforting gesture, he whispered something to her very low.

“It was very quick, Professor Song.”

She smiled a little shakily and nodded, thankful.

“Please, call me River. No need for formalities between us, Harry.”

The teen regarded her seriously, remembering what she had told him to make him trust her, before accepting. Really, if what he suspected was true, they didn’t need the formalities.

“If they’ve taken him, why haven’t they got me yet?” they heard Anita ask.

“I don’t know.” honestly answered the Doctor looking at her two shadows. “Maybe tinting your visor has changed something.”

“Of course it has. Nobody will ever see my face again.”

“Can I help you?”

“Getting old would be good. Can you do something?”

“I’m working on that.” The Time Lord turned to his companion. “Harry, I thought you didn’t want to spoil the surprise by reading the books.”

The wizard blinked at the teasing smile on that handsome face and looked down at the book in his left hand.

“Oh, this is one of my own. Bottomless purse, remember?” answered with amusement. “I was trying to find some more information about the lethifolds, to see if it could help us with the Vashta Nerada.”

“And you found something?”

The teen shook his head sadly.

“Nothing I haven’t already told you. They’re not common creatures and there is not much known about them.”

The Doctor nodded gravely, looking pensive.

“Do you think you could, you know, create one of those… patronus… light… thingy?”

“Yes,” chuckled the younger time traveller. “though I don’t know if it’ll work with them.”

“We’ll have to try it.” said River.

The teen nodded at her and turned to look at Anita.

“It’s your choice, Anita. I don’t know if it’ll work. It could even make them attack quicker.”

“What are you going to do if I say yes?”

“I’m going to create light and direct it to the shadows. It should make them try to flee.”

“How are you going to create that light?”

“You could say I have a… gift.” said the teen after hesitating.

The woman seemed to visibly gather her courage before firmly nodding.

“Are you sure?” asked Harry.

“Yeah, do it.”

Harry breathed deeply and approached the brave woman. The wizard gave a thankful smile to the Doctor when he passed beside him and squeezed his hand.

“Okay. I need you to stay very still, Anita.”

She nodded and went still. The wizard took out his wand, needing to be as precise as was possible. He took another deep breath and muttered the familiar incantation under his breath.

“Expecto patronus.”

He thought of his friends back in England, always loyal and ready to lend a hand if needed. Then about Teddy, Andromeda and the rest of their dysfunctional family. Finally, he thought of the Doctor. He thought of the hope his visits had given him through his childhood, of the happiness he felt when he offered him a place in the TARDIS to travel with him, of the sweetness of his lips when they had kissed…

Instead of the usual form of Prongs, the pure white light came out of the wood as a thread and went directly to one of the shadows connected to the woman.

It sizzled at the touch and seemed to try and fight back, so the wizard increased the constant stream he was sending, trying to force the false shadow to dislodge.

He didn’t know for how long he did that but, all of a sudden, the shadow became brighter till there was nothing left of it.

The light of the incorporeal patronus disappeared as well and Harry stumbled back, tired. The Doctor was at his side in a second and caught him by the arm. He smiled at the man, letting him know he was okay.

“It’s gone?” whispered the teen.

The man didn’t release him and pointed his screwdriver at the shadow left.

“It seems so. This one is benign.” sighed the Time Lord. “You should leave the helmet on, just to be sure.”

“Ok.” agreed she. “How did you do that?” asked Anita to the wizard.

“As I’ve said, I have a gift.”

“Come on, give a dead girl a break. You’re secret is safe with me.” insisted.

“Safe.”

“What?”

The Doctor’s eyes lit up in sudden understanding.

“Safe. You don’t say saved. Nobody says saved. You say safe. The second message! What did it say?” asked the Doctor looking at mister Lux.

“4022people saved. No survivors.” answered the man confused.

“Doctor.” called River standing up.

“Nobody says saved. The crazy say saved. You say safe.” Thought aloud the man starting to pace. “You see, it didn’t say safe. It meant, it literally meant, saved!” exclaimed he gripping his hair with both hands and looking at them as if it were obvious.

The Doctor went to the computer and started typing in.

“See? Here it is. A hundred years ago. A massive power surge. All the teleports running at once. As soon as the Vashta Nerada started the hatching cycle they attacked. Someone gives the alarm and the computer tried to teleport everyone out.”

“It tried to teleport 4022 people out?” asked River.

“It succeeded. Pulled them all out, but then what? Nowhere to send them. Nowhere safe in the whole library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. 4022 people. All beamed up and nowhere to go. They’re waiting in the system, ready to be sent, like emails. So what’s a computer to do? What does a computer always do?” urged the man.

“It saved them.”

The Doctor jumped towards a table and took a marking pen out of his jacket before starting to draw in the table.

“The Library. A whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved 4022 the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive.”

Harry couldn’t believe it. Muggles were incredible. Their technology… it was astounding the things they could do without an ounce of magic.

His awe didn’t last for long, however, as suddenly an alarm started to sound and the lights became red. Everyone looked around.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” asked Mister Lux.

“Autodestruct enabled in twenty minutes.” announced the voice of a computer.

The computer screen showed the count down.

“What’s maximum erasure?” asked River.

“In twenty minutes, this planet’s going to crack like an egg.” muttered the Doctor.

“No. No, it’s all right. The Doctor Moon will stop it. It’s programmed to protect Cal.” intervened Mister Lux.

As soon as the words left his lips, the terminal screen went blank, startling them.

“No, no, no, no, no, no!” shouted the Doctor hitting the computer before jumping onto a chair and working on it with his screwdriver.

“Doctor, what’s going on?” asked Harry.

“All library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience.” announced the computer voice inadvertently answering him.

“We need to stop this. We’ve got to save Cal.” urged Mister Lux.

“But what is it? What is Cal?” prompted the Doctor.

“We need to get to the main computer. I’ll show you.” finally said the man.

“It’s at the core of the planet.”

“Well, then. Let’s go.” said River with a big grin.

They saw her walk to the platform in the centre of the room and use her screwdriver to open it. A blue and white light appeared and she looked down, still grinning.

“Gravity platform.”

“I bet I get along with you.” said the man walking forward and looking down too.

“Oh, you do.”

The Doctor pulled Harry along and the five stepped onto the platform. Harry had an idea of what it did, but was still surprised when it began to go down at an almost terrifying speed. It didn’t hold a candle to his Firebolt, though.

The Doctor looked at him with a grin and Harry returned it, both still holding the other’s hand.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Autodestruct in fifteen minutes.” reminded them the computer.

The Doctor looked up and, finally, saw an orange ball of swirling energy.

“The data core. Over four thousand living minds trapped inside.”

“Yeah, well, they won’t living much longer. We’re running out of time.”

Harry reached their side and, suddenly, fell to his knees, panting.

“Harry!” shouted the Doctor crouching beside him and grabbing his shoulders.

The teen grabbed his head as if in pain and the Doctor took his face between his hands and lifted it so he could see him in the eyes.

“Wrong, so wrong. The souls. Those souls are no supposed to be there. Souls without a body mustn’t be here. They’re not alive. But they’re not dead either. This is so wrong.” mumbled the teen.

River’s eyes widened in understanding and the Doctor looked at her pleadingly. She crouched down beside the Time Lord and took the wizard’s hands in hers.

“Harry, listen to me. You have to strengthen your mental shields. You have to do it or the pain will only increase. Strengthen the shields, Harry.”

The younger time traveller released a pitiful moan and nodded slightly. The teen closed his eyes and started to do just that. Relieved, River stood up.

“How did you know what to do?”

She said nothing and the Doctor gave a frustrated sigh, but he couldn’t hide the relief he felt at seeing the pain slowly leaving Harry’s face.

“We’ll have to carry him.” said River also looking at the teen. “It’ll take him a couple of minutes to strengthen the shields enough.”

The Doctor nodded determinately and picked up his little one with utmost care, as if afraid he would break if he wasn’t careful enough. He felt concern at his light weight, but didn’t say anything aloud.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Help me.” called a little girl’s voice. “Please, help me.”

“What’s that?” asked Anita.

The Doctor reluctantly pulled Harry down, resting against the wall, and caressed his face sweetly before taking his screwdriver out and pointing it at the computer.

“Was that a child?” asked River referring to the voice they had heard.

“The computer’s in sleep mode. I can’t wake it up. I’m trying.” said the Doctor tapping the keyboard and clearly frustrated.

“Doctor, these readings…” commented suddenly River Song.

“I know. You would think it was… dreaming.”

Engrossed in the conversation, they didn’t notice the young wizard stirring and opening his eyes.

“It is dreaming. Of a normal life, and a lovely dad, and of every book ever written.” explained Mister Lux taking off a pair of globes.

“Computers don’t dream.” protested Anita.

“Help me. Please, help me.” called again the girl

“No, but little girls do.”

Mister Lux then proceeded to pull a breaker and a door opened. The Doctor looked at him as he went into the next room and glanced at Harry.

He was surprised when a pair of beautiful green eyes looked back at him and he smiled widely.

“Harry.”

The wizard smiled back and accepted his help standing up on shaky legs.

“What did I miss.”

“Oh, no much. The computer’s dreaming.”

Harry snorted at the way the man talked, as if it was completely normal. Well, with the things the Time Lord must see, it very well could. Still supported by his man, Harry walked beside him after Lux and the others.

In the next room, they saw as a node turned to them and they had to contain a gasp. It had the face of a little girl.

“Please, help me.” begged she opening her eyes. “Please, help me.

“Oh, my god.” exclaimed River.

“It’s the little girl. The girl we saw in the computer.”

“She’s not in the computer. In a way, she’s the computer. The main command node. This is Cal.” explained Mister Lux with moist eyes.

“Cal is a child? A child hooked up to a mainframe? Why didn’t you tell me this? I needed to know this!” protested the Doctor.

“Because she’s family!” answered he human passionately. “Cal. Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather’s youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside, with a moon to look over her, and all of human history to pass the time. Any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything and he gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret! Not a freak show.”

“You weren’t protecting a patent, you were protecting her.” realized Harry looking at the man softly. “She’s the conscience that I felt before.”

“This is only half a live, of course. But it’s for ever.” muttered the man lovingly caressing the node’s face.

“And then the shadows came.” added the Doctor.

“The shadows. I have to- I have to save- have to save.” intervened the node girl.

“And she saved them. She saved everyone in The Library. Folded them into her dreams and kept them safe.” continued explaining the Time Lord.

“Then, why didn’t she tell us?” asked Anita confused.

“Because she’s forgotten. She’s got over four thousand living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like being… well, me.”

Harry squeezed the man’s hand, offering comfort, and he smiled weakly at him, grateful.

“So what do we do?” wondered River.

“Autodestruct in ten minutes.” reminded the computer.

That snapped the Doctor and he run to the other panels in the other room while talking. The others run after him.

“Easy! We beam all the people out of the data core. The computer will reset and stop the countdown.” he tapped the keyboard in the computer and rubbed his head. “Difficult. Charlotte doesn’t have enough memory space left to make the transfer.” he looked around and spotted a panel, which he then opened and took a cable. “Easy! I’ll hook myself up to the computer. She can borrow my memory space.”

“Difficult! It’ll kill you stone dead.”

“Yeah, it’s easy to criticise.”

“It’ll burn out both your hearts, and don’t think you’ll regenerate.”

“Doctor!” Harry was looking at the man with wide scared eyes and the Time Lord paused.

The man turned to face the teen and walked till they were in front of each other. He looked down in those incredibly green eyes and sighed, resting his forehead upon his own, closing his own eyes for a second.

“Harry, there’s no other option. I have to…”

“Let me do it.” interrupted the teen. “I could...”

“You wouldn’t survive.” the teen was going to talk again, but the Doctor didn’t let him. “And if, by some miracle, you did… you would lose your memory. I don’t want to die.” whispered the man making tears appear in the younger one’s eyes, remembering having thought the same thing not even months ago, when facing the Dark Lord. “I don’t want to die, Harry. I want to travel with you, through all of time and space, to show you the wonders of the universe. I want to do and show you so many things.” A tear fell from the teen’s lips, who tried to speak once again. “But above everything, I want to make sure that you live. I need to know that you have a future. And the only way to make sure of that is by doing this.”

“I won’t let you. Doctor, please, listen to me…” begged the wizard desperately.

“Harry, sweet Harry… my little beautiful and stubborn Harry…”

The Doctor closed his eyes and pressed their foreheads more firmly together. One of his hands came up to rest at the back of his neck and, without a warning, pulled the wizard in a searing kiss that made the younger one release a low moan.

Speedily, still kissing him and without giving him time to notice anything, the Time Lord used the hand on his nape to pinch a pressure point in the back of his neck.

The man quickly caught him before he could fall and hit his head, and gently lowered to the floor his already unconscious body.

“Doctor!” exclaimed River Song taking a step forward.

“He’s okay. He’ll be unconscious for about fifteen minutes, I think.” said the man softly caressing the face of the now peacefully asleep wizard and cleaning a stray tear from Harry’s cheek. “I’ll try my best to return to you, Harry. I always will.”

“Doctor…”

The man stood up and, after a last look at his emerald, started to work with his screwdriver and the wires.

“I’m right. This works. Shut up.” said ignoring her. “Now listen. You and Luxy boy, back up to the main library. Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download, and before you say anything else, Professor, I just mention it in passing, shut up.”

“Oh, I hate you sometimes!” exclaimed the woman.

“I know.”

“Mister Lux, with me.” ordered the Professor. “Anita, if he dies, I’ll kill him!”

The two run out of the room and Anita looked at the Doctor, that was now working on the computer.

“What about the Vashta Nerada?”

“These are their forests. I’m going to seal Charlotte inside her little world, take everybody else away.” he run to another panel and pulled some breakers. “The shadows can swarm to their heart’s content.”

“So you think they’re just going to let us go?”

“Best offer they’re going to get.”

“You’re going to make them an offer?”

“They should better take it, because right now, I’m finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all. You know what?” the man paused and looked at the spacesuit. “I really like Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying. And she never gave in. and you ate her.” The Time Lord pointed his screwdriver at her and cleared the visor, which revealed a skull. “But I’m going to let that pass, as long as you let them pass.”

“How long have you known?”

“Since Harry used his powers. Oh, you didn’t eat her right away, no. but what he was doing was working and you were getting so weak that the only options you had left were to leave or to get inside her suit faster than you had wanted to. Then, you waited inside the suit and ate Anita when Harry was distracted. You’re intelligent. You know Harry would have noticed if you killed her when he was focused on her.” The man was already in front of the suit, looking at the blinking green light. “She’s nearly gone. Be kind.”

“These are our forests. We are not kind.”

“I’m giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them. You are letting them go.”

“These are our forests. They are our meat.” said the suit controlling swarm extending an arm when the Doctor walked back.

Shadows started to stretch out from Anita’s suit, swarms of Vashta Nerada in search of new meat. The Doctor put himself between them and Harry.

“Don’t play games with me.” warned the furious man clearly in the brink of snapping. “You’ve just killed someone I like and are now trying to eat the most important person in my life. That is not a safe place to stand. I’m the Doctor and you’re in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up.”

The shadows paused in their advance for a moment, as if contemplating what to do, and then retreated back into the suit.

“You have one day.” the swarm said.

The spacesuit collapsed to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. The Doctor turned back to the computer and didn’t see River until she spoke.

“Oh, Anita.” muttered the professor caressing the helmet of the woman’s suit.

“I’m sorry. She’s been dead a while now. I told you to go!”

“Lux can manage without me, but you can’t.”

Noticing something strange in the professor’s voice, the Doctor turned around and found himself receiving a punch to the head. Then, blackness overcame him.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

The Doctor blinked his eyes. What had happened? He didn’t remember…

“Autodestruct in two minutes.”

What did that mean? Autodestruct? Where was he? The Time Lord blinked again and lifted his head to look around.

No more than a meter from him, lying unconscious on the floor, he saw a teen. A teen with very familiar black unruly hair. Harry!

Everything returned to him. The Library, the Vashta Nerada, Charlotte, autodestruct… He looked up to see River Song connecting two wires.

“Oh, no, no, no, no. come on, what are you doing? That’s my job!”

“And I’m not allowed to have a career, I suppose?” questioned Professor Song from where she sat surrounded by cables.

“Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?” asked the man trying to free himself.

“Spoilers.” answered she with a pleased grin.

“This is not a joke. Stop it. This is going to kill you! You would have a chance, you don’t have any.”

“You don’t have a chance, and neither do I.” intervened she angry. “The only person with any chance is Harry, but he would lose his memory, and as you have knocked him out he can’t do either way.” She calmed down and took a deep breath. “I’m timing it for the end of the countdown. There’ll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download.”

“River, please. No.” pleaded the Time Lord.

“Funny thing is, his means you’ve always known how I was going to die. All the times I’ve met you and Harry, you knew I was coming here.” the Doctor looked at her with wide eyes. “The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you I mean, you turned up in my doorstep, with a new haircut and a new suit. You took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. What a night that was. The Towers sang, and you cried. Harry too. He couldn’t look at me without crying.”

“Autodestruct in one minute.”

“He wouldn’t tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was the time. My time. Time to come to The Library. You even gave me your screwdriver. That should have been a clue.”

It was then the Doctor noticed the two screwdrivers and her diary in front of himself and tried to grab them, but they were just out of his reach.

“There’s nothing you can do.”

“You can let me do this.”

“If you die here, it’ll mean I’ve never met you.”

“Time can be rewritten.”

“Not those times. Not one line. Don’t you dare.” said the woman with tears in her eyes. “It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s not over for you. You’ll see me again. You’ve got so many things to do. You and Harry, all of time and space to run through.”

“River, whatever it is you said to Harry, it made him trust you implicitly.”

“Autodestruct in ten…”

“Harry doesn’t trust just anyone.”

“Nine, eight, seven…”

“You know things about us, things we still haven’t told even each other. That can only mean you’re important to us…”

“Hush, now.”

“Four, three…”

“Spoilers.”

“Two, one.”

River smiled through her tears and joined two power cables together. A blinding light filled the room and the Doctor had no other option but to cover his eyes.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

The Doctor sat on the floor, staring at the corpse of the blonde woman that he was sure would be important to them.

A low moan alerted him to the awakening of his little one and he was relieved to have a reason to look away from her.

Harry’s hand twitched and, soon, the teen listed his head from the floor, looking confused.

“Doctor?” asked the wizard when their eyes found each other’s.

The man swallowed and continued staring at him. It was then that the teen noticed the handcuffs tying him to a copper pipe.

Worried, the wizard crawled to his side and used a wordless and wandless alohomora to free him from them.

The Doctor’s eyes involuntarily slipped back to River’s body and the teen followed his gaze. His eyes filled with tears and the Doctor reacted fast, making him turn around so they were staring into each other’s eyes and pressing their foreheads together.

Harry tried to contain his tears, but they slipped by his cheeks and he had to choke back a sob.

“Why did you trust her?” whispered the Doctor. “I need to know, Harry.”

“She was family. Somehow, she was family.”

The Doctor closed his eyes and a tear escaped them. Harry cleaned it with sweetness and allowed the man to hug him tightly before hiding his still weeping face in the crook of his neck.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Any luck?” asked the Doctor resting against a wooden wall.

They were in the shop, looking as people were teleported out of The Library.

The computer doesn’t allow anyone access to the archives. Only to teleport out.

“I’m sorry.”

“Maybe will find them another time.” shrugged Harry not looking very convinced. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Magic still exists, I can feel it. They could still be around.”

“If wizards and witches are half as stubborn as you are, they will still be somewhere in the universe.” joked weakly the Time Lord.

A quiet chuckle left the teen’s lips and he pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of his head. The wizard sighed at the warmth that he felt on his chest and returned the embrace.

“Stand right in the middle of the teleport, please. Keep your hands and feet inside at all times.” announced the computer in a woman’s voice.

“Are you alright?” asked Harry in a quiet voice.

“I’m always alright?” answered the man automatically, used to saying that to his other companions.

“If you are pregnant, please go to teleport seven on the floor above.” notified the computer.

Harry looked up at his man’s face, resting his chin on his chest.

“Is ‘alright’ special Time Lord code for really not alright at all?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m alright too.”

The Time Lord’s eyes softened and he leaned down to kiss the tip of his nose. Harry smiled weakly up at him.

“Come on.”

The Doctor steered him out of the room with an arm over his shoulders.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

Harry saw as the Doctor put River Song’s diary on the railing of the balcony and looked at the horizon.

“Doctor, do you really think I’m not the last?” asked Harry in a fear laced whisper.

“Harry, this is River Song’s diary. Our future. We could look it up. Shall we peek at the information about wizard’s?”

Harry could see the man was tempted, really tempted, to look inside that little blue book lying innocently without them, the answer to all their questions inside, but he knew it wasn’t right.

“It’s the future, Doctor. Our future. We’re already running towards it. Why read it if we can live it? Let’s not spoil the surprise.”

The man smiled at him and took out River’s screwdriver before leaving it over the book.

“Come on. The next chapter’s this way.” said the Time Lord taking his hand and starting to walk upstairs.

Suddenly the Doctor stopped and run back for the screwdriver. Harry followed him, confused.

“Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that? Thing is, future me had years to think about it, all those years to think of a way to save her, and what he did was give her a screwdriver. Why would I do that?” asked himself the man while looking for anything strange in the screwdriver.

Harry frowned pensively, and looked at the object in deep thought. Taking out his wand for more precision, not wanting to fry the circuits of the screwdriver, he pointed the wooden stick at it.

“Reveal your secret.” ordered as once Snape had done with the Marauder’s map.

A cover fell from the screwdriver, leaving exposed a neural relay with still two green lights on it.

“Oh! Oh! Oh, look at that! I’m very good! We’re very good!”

“What have you done?”

“Saved her.” answered the Doctor showing him the screwdriver before starting to run upstairs.

Harry run after him, hope growing inside of him.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

They got to the room where the gravity platform was. There was only one light left in the neural relay. The Doctor pointed the screwdriver at a computer screen.

“Sorry, River, shortcut!”

“Platform disabled.”

The Doctor jumped inside the gravity well and Harry didn’t hesitate in following. The last light was starting to blink.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

They reached the room were River had died and the Doctor plugged the screwdriver into the core, transferring River’s neural energy.

Harry looked at Charlotte’s node and saw her smiling at them. Both returned the gesture, relieved.

The wizard felt the trapped souls inside the planet’s core, but didn’t say anything. In a very far day, they would be claimed by death. But death was patient. It could wait a little more.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

River looked up at the incredibly blue sky and then down at her body. She found she was wearing a loose white dress with a thin white jacket.

“It’s okay, you’re safe.” it was Charlotte who spoke, the Professor noted, and at her side stood a grinning dark skinned man with glasses “You’ll always be safe here. The Doctor fixed the data core. This is a good place now. But I was worried you might be lonely, so I brought you some friends. Aren’t I clever?”

“Aren’t we all?” said a woman’s voice.

River turned around and saw Anita, the two Daves and Evangelista dressed in white clothes and walking towards them.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. They can’t do it, can they?” asked more to herself than to anybody else. “Those men. Those impossible men. They just can’t give in.”

She run towards her friends and hugged them tightly, all of them smiling brightly.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

The Time Lord and his wizard returned to the Reception, where the TARDIS was waiting for them and stared at it with a smile.

Without a word, the Doctor brought up a hand and snapped his fingers, not really expecting anything to happen.

To their surprise, the door of the TARDIS opened. Harry laughed and looked up at him.

“Well, looks like River was telling the truth.”

The Doctor smiled back at him and, with a flourish, motioned for him to go inside first before following and closing the door after himself.

Harry stood nervously near the control panel of the TARDIS and saw the Doctor lean against a railing and let his head fall back.

“I promised you I would explain you about, well, all those things about death.”

The Doctor regarded him seriously.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Harry, I’m very curious about all that, but… are you sure you want to talk about it now?”

Harry bit his lower lip and nodded. He was nervous and a little afraid, but he needed to talk about it with someone apart from Andromeda. And the Doctor deserved to know.

“It’s a long story and it has to do with something I did during the war. Or something I found. It all started with a tale that wizards tell their children. The tale of the Three Brothers.”


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Harry took a deep breath, gathering every Gryffindor bit he had in himself, and started with the tale that he knew from memory. The Doctor didn’t interrupt him.

_“There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure._

_And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him._

_So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother._

_Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead._

_And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility._

_Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death’s gifts. In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination._

_The first brother travelled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible._

_That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother’s throat._

_And so Death took the first brother for his own._

_Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him._

_Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly to join her._

_And so Death took the second brother for his own._

_But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.”_

A few seconds of silence hung heavily over them after he finished recalling the tale.

“A little creepy for a bedtime story, don’t you think?”

Harry didn’t say anything.

“Okay, so what’s that to do with anything?”

“At the end of the war, things were bad. We started to get desperate as the Death Eaters, Tom’s followers, started to gain ground. It was then that I came across a reference to three very powerful objects and that led me to the story of the Three Brothers. Somehow, I knew the Deathly Hollows existed. I searched for them in the hopes that they would help defeat Tom. I managed to find all three of them. Since the Potters were the only direct descendants from the third brother and I am the last Potter, I was able to claim the Hollows and use them to end the war. Later I tried to get rid of them but they would just return to me. I am, officially, the Master of Death.”

There was a small silence in which the only sound heard was made by their breaths.

“What… what does that entail?”

There was something strange in the Doctor’s voice when he asked the question quietly and Harry didn’t dare look at him as he answered.

“I can feel when someone dies or when someone is dying and, if I want to, I can know everything about a person, since the date they were born, the date they are supposed to die, and any of their deepest and darkest secrets. There’s nothing that can be hidden from Death, after all. And…” Harry wringed his hands nervously and the Doctor carefully took them in his own hands, hoping to help calm the wizard. “I-I can’t. I-“

“Harry, Harry, look at me.” muttered the Doctor crossing the distance between them and taking his head between his hands. “I would never leave you. I won’t send you away. You are not a freak. You are my special little wizard. And nothing you ever say or do would ever make me love you any less. I want you, by my side, forever.”

Harry’s eyes were wide with shock and filled with tears.

“You- you don’t know what you are saying. Forever… forever is a very long time. You think you lo-“

“No, Harry, listen to me.” interrupted the Doctor looking him in the eyes. “I know how long eternity is, I’m a Time Lord, remember? I know perfectly well what I’m saying. I love you. I think I’ve loved you since I first met you, even if I didn’t realize it at the time. Nothing will ever change that. I know it. I love you, my precious little treasure.”

Harry looked him in the eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Since he was a small child, his dream had always been to find someone to love and be loved in return.

Without knowing, he had fallen for his Doctor every time they met. His deepest desire had always been to be loved by the Doctor but he had known it would never be possible. He had always known the Doctor was different, special, and too good for him.

But looking in the eyes of the Time Lord, those eyes so full of, dare he say it, love. How could he believe it to be a lie? And his heart ached so fiercely for it to be true. He wanted, no, needed, to believe it. And it wasn’t as if the man had ever lied to him.

Without even noticing, the wizard began to talk, still looking in the warm eyes of his Doctor, and the man listened quietly.

“We were desperate. Tom had used a Dark Magic ritual to split his soul in seven pieces and conceal them in objects. It was his way of ensuring his immortality. A soul cannot pass onto the afterlife if it is anchored to this world. We destroyed those objects in order to make him mortal again. Then, I discovered the seventh piece was inside my scar, the one he gave me. There are only three ways to destroy a Horrocrux. One of them is basilisk venom, another fiendfyre and another is the Killing Curse. All of them destroy the recipient.” the Doctor looked worried about what he was hearing. “During the final battle, I let Tom kill me.” The Doctor’s eyes opened impossibly wide. “I thought it was the end. There was nothing else I could do. And, then, I awoke again. I was in the same clearing. Breathing. And alive. And the Hollows were assimilated into my core.”

For a moment, nothing was heard after Harry finished talking before the Doctor took a deep breath.

“Does that mean that you are…?”

“I don’t know. It could be. No one has ever had the three Hollows at the same time and no one has ever been so rightfully their owner since the Three Brothers themselves.”

The Doctor didn’t move and didn’t say anything and Harry closed his eyes, resigned to be rejected. He opened them again when he felt two big warm hands carefully cupping his cheeks. He was shocked when, instead of rejection, he only saw love and wonder in the other’s eyes.

“You do not understand what that possibility means to me, do you? All my life I’ve met people I knew I would, sooner or later, loose to Death. The mere thought of living without you… I don’t think I would be able to do it, Harry. And now you’re telling me it may be possible I will never have to go through that. That you may stay with me forever or at least for as long as you want. It’s that which made me afraid of what I felt for you; the thought of not knowing what I would do if I ever lost you. I tried to keep away when you were a child, but I couldn’t. You were already so brilliant. So captivating.  I couldn’t keep away even if that meant someday I would be following you to Death’s arms. I love you, my Harry. I love you so much. You do not realize how much this means to me.”

Tears flowed freely down both their cheeks while Harry shook with barely supressed emotions.

“I’m afraid, Doctor.”

“I know. I would be too if I were in your place. But I promise you this: I will be here for you. Forever.”

And looking into his eyes, Harry believed him. How could he not? And suddenly, the thought of immortality didn’t sound so bad. Not if it allowed him to have eternity with his Doctor. Not if it allowed him to avoid hurting the Doctor with his own passing.

The wizard nodded and the Doctor beamed at him before, slowly, leaning in and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

“Perfect. And now, I think it’s time for us to eat something and go to bed. It’s been a long day filled of excitement.”

All worries forgotten, Harry laughed as the Doctor hopped around, sending the TARDIS to whoever knew where, before directing him to the kitchen.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

Harry stood awkwardly by the door. Now that he knew it was the Doctor’s bedroom, he couldn’t help but see it in a new light.

The room was made in warm colours and sparsely decorated, with a few trinkets here and there. It was obviously a place he didn’t use often.

The man stood in the middle of the room rubbing the back of his head and looking around as awkwardly as Harry felt.

“I know it’s not much…”

“Doctor, it’s okay. It looks… cosy.” said Harry honestly. “I like it.”

“You do?” asked the man with evident surprise.

Harry nodded. Even though it was evident that the Doctor didn’t sleep there usually, probably just falling asleep in the library or even the pool, it still had that touch of personality that reminded him of the Doctor.

“Well, we should… ah… we should go to sleep.” said the Doctor.

Harry nodded again. He blushed and bit his lip as he saw the Doctor take off his trench coat and lay on the bed without bothering with his clothes. Harry followed as he was also too tired to care for the clothes.

The Doctor took out his screwdriver and pointed it at the switcher. The lights went out. Harry lay on the bed with his eyes closed, trying to concentrate on his breathing so he would fall asleep.

He soon found out he wasn’t the only one having problems to sleep when he felt a hand touch his and the Doctor entwined their fingers.

The wizard smiled and, after hesitating, rolled to the side and put his head on the man’s shoulder. The hand grabbing his squeezed and the human squeezed back.

With the unfamiliar breathing of another, it took them less than they thought it would to fall into Morpheus’ arms.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

They fell from the bed.

The Doctor and his companion were abruptly awoken by the TARDIS shaking and found themselves falling from the bed.

They looked at each other in worry and confusion before the Doctor jumped up and run out of the room, taking his trench coat in the way.

Harry smiled fondly and looked around for his own jacket before running after the Time Lord. At least this, whatever it was, had spared them the awkwardness of the first time waking up in the same bed.

When he finally arrived at the control room, the Doctor was already fumbling with the buttons.

“Doctor! What’s wrong?” asked Harry gripping the railway to stop himself from falling. “What’s happening to the TARDIS?”

“I don’t know.” answered the man gritting his teeth and pushing another lever.

The TARDIS gave another forceful jerk and Harry fell to the floor. The next jolt sent his head against a pillar and a soft moan left his lips.

Finally, the spaceship stopped and the Doctor hurried to his little wizard’s side.

“Harry! harry, love, are you okay?”

The man stopped him from trying to stand up by pushing his shoulders gently to the floor.

“Where does it hurt?”

“My head. I hit it against the column.” answered the teen feeling a painful throb in the back of his head.

“Let me see.” muttered the man carefully touching his head.

“It’s okay, Doctor, it’s just a blow. Nothing to worry about.”

But the Doctor insisted in examining him and, knowing how stubborn the man could be, the wizard let him. And, maybe, the warmth that his worry caused in his chest had a little of influence too.

“Okay, it won’t cause you any trouble.” finally sighed.

His little one smiled at him and gratefully accepted his help to stand up. The Time Lord caressed his cheek softly and kissed his forehead.

“Where are we today, Doctor?” asked his human sweetly.

The man frowned and looked at the screen of his TARDIS.

“I’m not sure. It seems to be somewhere on Earth, maybe even near Britain, but I can’t specify more. Something’s blocking the TARDIS.”

“What could be powerful enough to interfere with the TARDIS?” muttered Harry frowning a little too.

“I’m not sure but whatever has that power it’s big and dangerous.” said the man. “I can’t even say what time we’re in. Only that it’s in the 20th century.” the man’s serious expression morphed into a mischievous one. “Want to take a look outside?”

The teen returned the impish smile and nodded eagerly. The Time Lord walked to the door and opened. He was pretty disappointed to find himself in the middle of nowhere, though that emotion quickly disappeared when he looked to the side and saw his companion’s wide eyed look.

“Harry?”

“I had hoped I would never get to see this place in person.” shivered the wizard.

He knew then what had interfered with the TARDIS. The wards.

“It’s just a rock in the middle of the ocean.” said the man in confusion.

“You can’t see it?”

“See what?”

“Take my hand.” instructed the teen.

The Doctor did as asked and felt something was over him before the scenery in front of him changed. What he had thought was just a rock turned into an island made of bare stone. The waves crashed violently against the shore and the sky was a dark grey, covered by clouds.

The most astounding thing was an imposing building made of stone that stood not too far from where they had landed.

The Doctor walked forward a few steps, ignoring the cold of the wind slowly seeping into his bones.

“Doctor, we need to return to the TARDIS.”

“Why? Where are we?”

“We’re in…”

“Hey! You two! Stop right there!” shouted someone running towards them.

A moment later, two men with red robes were pointing wooden sticks at them. The Doctor soon realized those weren’t sticks but wands and, as Harry’s war reflexes once more kicked in, his was pointed at one of the men.

“This place is restricted to everyone not authorized by the ministry. Lower your wand or we’ll be forced to stun you!” shouted a man.

His little wizard quickly did as told and waited to speak till the other two stopped.

“Excuse us, aurors. We didn’t notice we had entered a restricted area.” tried Harry.

“So you didn’t notice Azkaban is a restricted area?” asked one sceptically.

“No! I mean, yes! We know Azkaban is restricted, but we didn’t notice we were here.” hurried to say the teen.

“How did you get here, then?”

The young wizard tried to come up with a lie. The Doctor didn’t know enough about Azkaban, just that it was a wizarding prison, so he wouldn’t be of any real help. Thinking of that, the wizard said the first thing that came to his mind.

“We were trying a new prototype of transportation device. You know the problems the flu net poses to families with children, so we’re trying to create something more similar to the vanishing cabinets but able to connect on a wider net.” explained Harry very quickly. “See that blue box back there? That’s the prototype. We were just trying it and somehow found ourselves here.”

The wizards blinked.

“That’s a police box.” Oh, so at least one was a muggleborn or halfblood wizard. “And there are antiaparition wards around the all Azkaban.”

The teen contained a curse and glanced at the Time Lord. Without knowing the date, he couldn’t risk being recognized.

“The idea of the police box comes from the muggle entrance to the Ministry. We think it’ll look less suspicious to the muggles, though I have no idea of how we got here. The device wasn’t supposed to trespass any antiaparition ward.”

The wizard himself was surprised at the idea he had had, though he wasn’t very sure if they were credible. The two wizards seemed uncertain and glanced at each other, not knowing what to do.

“We’ll take you to our official.” decided one of them. “  You’ll have to give us your wands.”

Harry hesitated. It wasn’t only that he didn’t want to give up his beloved wand, but he didn’t want them to try verifying his story when he didn’t know even the date.

“That’s not necessary. Really. We can just return to the box. Maybe it’ll work…”

“No, you’re coming with us. And your box too.” said one of the wizards pointing his wand at them.

The Doctor lifted his arms in a slow pacifying gesture.

“We don’t want trouble.”

“Then give us your wands and follow us.” said the same wizard.

The younger wizard obeyed and with slow movements gave up his phoenix core wand. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit, but he had no other option. Stunning them was possible, but one of them would be able to cast at least a hex and he didn’t know if he would be fast enough to protect the Doctor from it.

“What do we do with the box?” asked the one knowledgeable on muggles.

“Shrink it. We’ll carry it with us.” ordered the other.

Harry’s eyes widened a fraction. They couldn’t allow that. They still didn’t know how the TARDIS would react to so much magic directed at it and they weren’t eager to find it out now.

“Wait, you can’t do it! The magic levels of the device are erratic now from the trip. If you cast any magic over it, the structure is unstable enough to explode. You could kill us all.”

The auror hesitated at that and, finally, decided to leave the TARDIS there. The Doctor and the teen sighed in relief. It hadn’t been a complete lie, after all. Technology often exploded in contact with magic.

“And your wand?” asked to the Doctor the auror that seemed in charge.

“Eh, I… I don’t have one.” answered the Time Lord a little hesitantly.

“You don’t have one?” frowned the auror.

“His wand broke when we landed here. Excuse him, his still a little confused from the unexpected broken bond. The landing was rougher than we had expected. I suspect it were the wards.”

The aurors nodded, looking sympathetically at the time traveller, and the man tried to look sad at the fictitious loss.

“Okay, come.” ordered the leader.

The two travellers shared a look and did as asked. The four of them started to walk in the same direction, leaving the TARDIS behind.

“So, can we have your names?” asked the Doctor casually.

“Oh, yes, sorry.” The younger of the aurors cleared his throat. “I’m auror Mitchel Johnson and this is auror senior Richard Thompshill.”

“Muggleborns or halfbloods?” asked Harry with real curiosity.

“Does it matter?” growled Thompshill.

“No, not really.” hurried to say the wizard. “I’m a halfblood myself.”

He hoped the admission was enough to calm the man. He didn’t have prejudices.

“I’m a halfblood too.” admitted the auror relaxing a little.

“I’m a muggleborn.” said Johnson.

They lapsed into a strange silence. Even the Doctor remained silent as they walked. The Time Lord used those moments to study the two wizards.

Mitchel Johnson was a young man that radiated energy. He had light brown hair, almost the colour of sand, clear blue eyes and a square jaw.

Richard Thompshill looked to be in his early forties and had the wary look of a man that has seen many horrors, and both Harry and the Doctor knew what they were talking about when they said that. He had dark hair that had begun to turn grey at his temples and dark eyes.

Out of nowhere, a cold sensation started to seep into their bones and dark depressing emotions clouded their minds.

“Dementors! They weren’t supposed to be in this sector!” shouted Johnson.

“Give me my wand, auror.” tried Harry when the dark figures appeared on sight and his breathing sped up.

But it was too late. The beings had reached them too fast. And the auror refused to return the teen’s wand.

A feeling of wrongness overcame Harry. There was something wrong, so wrong. He had had a bad feeling when he first saw Azkaban but now that he saw the dementors it seemed stronger. And the sensation came directly from the magic of the Hollows.

The Doctor saw in slow motion as his emerald collapsed on the floor and went to catch him but the aurors, unable to create a patronus with so many dementors nearby without a warning, caught him by the arms and forcibly dragged him away.

“No! No, wait! You can’t abandon him! We can’t-”

They stopped a short distance away when the dementors didn’t follow them, seemingly more interested in the dark haired boy, and the Doctor tried to run towards them only to be stopped again by the aurors petrifying him.

“Stay put! We’re going to create a patronus.”

By the time that happened, Harry was already surrounded by the soul-eating beings. One of them hovered over his unconscious body and they saw in horror as it caressed his pale face.

Wherever the creature touched him, the skin tinted black and the colour disappeared after a few seconds. What confused, and honestly also scared, the aurors was that the dementor wasn’t even trying to Kiss the teen. Had the boy died of horror and that was why the dementor couldn’t eat his soul?

The aurors’ patronus charged forward and the dementors disbanded. Furious, the Doctor glared at the two aurors that were looking at the teen with wide eyes.

Thompshill approached slowly and knelt down to take his pulse.

“He’s alive!”

The auror seemed surprised, amazed even, and the Time Lord glared harder. He couldn’t move but his heart was racing and his emotions were running all over the place.

“You can release him, Johnson.” said Thompshill looking at the man.

The Doctor felt his muscles relax and jumped to his feet before running towards Harry, ignoring the shaking of his legs and the rest of his body. He knelt down besides his little one with concern and lifted his head to put it on his lap, sweetly putting a black lock after his ear.

“Harry.” called. “Harry.”

“It’s the first time I see someone react so strongly to the dementors.” commented Johnson.

“I’ve seen it in people with great horrors in their past.” said solemnly Thompshill. “We need to get inside. We still don’t know what so many dementors were doing here.”

The Doctor nodded and scooped up his still unconscious little one, concerned again at his light weight. He walked alongside the two aurors in the stone building’s direction wondering if his own mild reaction to the creatures was because of him being a Time Lord.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

His head hurt and his eyelids felt heavy, but he still managed to open them. The first thing he saw was a handsome concerned face; the handsome and concerned face of his Doctor.

“How are you feeling?”

Harry blinked and then frowned. What had happened? The last thing he remembered were… cries. Very familiar cries. His mother’s cries.

“Give him this.” said a new voice.

The wizard turned his head and saw a man in crimson robes with a black insignia in the chest giving something to the Doctor.

“Chocolate?” wondered the Time Lord.

“It combats the effects of the dementors.” explained Harry reaching for it himself.

“Really? Chocolate? I knew it was good, but…”

“Honestly, what are they teaching them at school nowadays?” muttered very low the unknown man. “If we’re finished with the lesson… My name is Tom Rogers and I’m the auror in charge of Azkaban. Now I want to know who you are and what you are doing here.”

Harry bit the chocolate and sat with the help of the older time traveller. Looking around he noticed they were in a badly lit but spacious room.

“I’m Harry Smith and this is the Doctor.” lied the teen.

The Doctor nearly snorted in amusement when his little one said the surname.

For his part, the wizard had remembered that he had said he was a halfblood so he had thought of a surname that could be both muggle and wizarding.

He had remembered that Smith was a common muggle surname besides a not very famous but really big and known wizarding family. Zachariah Smith was one of them.

“The Doctor? Doctor who?” asked Rogers.

“Just the Doctor.” Smiled the man amused. Yes, definitely just a thing of his little Harry.

“Well, ‘Just the Doctor’, what are you and Mister Smith doing in Azkaban?”

Harry gave the same explanation as before and waited for the auror’s reaction. That reaction, though, came from an unexpected source.

“Auror Rogers, could you and your men gives a few minutes of privacy?” the new and rough voice articulated it as a question but it was very obviously an order. And as any person in their right mind, he didn’t question him.

Harry froze at that voice. Lying had just become a nearly impossible thing. The teen looked over to a shadowed corner and his suspicions were confirmed. He cursed himself for not noticing him before.

“Now, ‘Mister Smith’,” started Alastor Moody. “care to explain how you got here? The real version this time.”

The wizard blinked and kept his gaze on the old wizard. Was it his imagination or he looked slightly younger?

“Harry?” muttered lowly the Doctor.

“What year is it?” asked abruptly the teen.

“Time travellers.”

Harry froze again at his past, or technically future, professor’s words. This time the Doctor did the same.

“W-what?”

“You just confirmed my theory.” stated the old auror.

“How?” asked the Doctor fascinated, not only by the man’s statement but by his grotesque appearance too.

The younger wizard just sighed and listened when Mad-Eye looked at him and explained with a smirk.

“Did you really think I would believe that story about the prototype? The Ministry hasn’t approved of any experiments of that kind recently.” Damn his bloody contacts in the Department of Mysteries… “And, Smith? Really? Do not insult my intelligence.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, sir.” said the teen with a light but honest smile. “So what gave us away?”

Moody looked him in the eyes for a few seconds before nodding to himself almost imperceptibly.

“First, your appearance. Your features are very distinctive from two prominent pureblood families. Second, you wear those families’ rings and you cannot wear them if you’re not of their blood. And,” continued the wizard before the Time Lord could interrupt him. “I know for a fact that every member of those families is either dead or in a cell in this same building. All but one.”

“And?”

“Right now he’s a five year old child.”

Harry blushed a little.

“First, what rings are you talking about?” asked the Doctor aloud. “And, second, good deduction.”

“The rings are under a glamour.” explained Harry. “It’s a spell that allows a person to hide or change little things. Moody’s crystal eye allows him to look through the glamour and see the rings.”

“Just as I can see that scar in your forehead, hidden behind your fringe.” added the auror gruffly. “I don’t want you to confirm anything, but I’m pretty sure I know who you are and the only explanation for it is…”

“…time travel.” finished Harry with a sigh.

“Exactly. From now on, try and follow the laws of time travel ­­­—at least you learned them in class, didn’t you? — and don’t reveal too much about the future. We don’t need a paradox in top of everything.”

­­­Harry bowed his head and nodded meekly.

“Yes, sir.”

“Harry, who is he?” asked the Doctor.

“Oh, sorry, Doctor. This is auror senior Alastor Moody. Alas- Auror Moody, this is the Doctor.”

Both men’s gazes sharpened at his slip`, but they let that pass in order to assess each other.

“So, what date are we in?” wondered the teen nervously, breaking their staring match.

“November 9, 1985.” answered the old auror. “What did you come here for?”

“Oh, nothing in particular.” said the Doctor with his habitual enthusiasm. “We were traveling a little, you know, visiting Egypt during Cleopatra’s reign and Rome during its fall, when we appeared here.”

“So you travel through time for… entertainment?” drawled the auror with distrust.

“Yes, you could say that.” conceded the Time Lord a little grudgingly. “So, what’s happening here?”

“Who says anything’s happening?” retorted the older wizard.

“You said before, and I quote: ‘We don’t need a paradox in top of everything’; which implies there’s something already causing you trouble and you’re on high alert…”

“Constance vigilance!”

The sudden outburst from the two wizards made the Doctor jump and his teen giggled. The older wizard seemed to smile, though the Time Lord couldn’t be sure with all the scars on his face.

“Alastor is always on high alert.” explained the youngest of them still laughing and not realizing his slip.

“A little paranoid, aren’t you?”

“It’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you.” spoke the two wizards as one.

“That’s a little creepy.” whispered the man.

The younger traveller blushed deeply and the auror observed him speculatively.

“Back to the topic at hand… what’s going on here? What are you doing in Azkaban?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because I know you’re not supposed to be here and we may be able to help.” stated Harry very seriously.

The auror remained silent for a minute, looking the teen right in the eyes, and the Doctor fidgeted uncomfortably at the intensity of his gaze.

“Which hex did Abraxas Malfoy use when he took my eye in battle in 1945?” asked suddenly the auror.

“That’s a trick question. There are no records of the Death Eater attacks.” muttered Harry looking at the man with a slight smile. “It wasn’t a hex but a piece of debris.” the old wizard narrowed his eyes, but the teen continued before he could interrupt. “And it was against Evan Rosier that you lost your eye in battle in 1979, just before Voldemort’s fall. Abraxas Malfoy cut out your leg in 1945 but a healer was able to reattach it and it was Lucius Malfoy during a surprise Death Eater raid that cut it out permanently in 1967.”

The Doctor looked from one to the other as they stared into each other’s eyes. The two wizards seemed to be waiting for the other to look away. The Time Lord wasn’t ashamed to admit he felt proud when Moody was the first.

“So… what’s going on here?” drawled the time traveller.

Harry looked at him from the corner of his eye before fixing his gaze firmly in the auror.

“The Ministry was alerted by the aurors here that there was an anomaly between the dementors.” informed the man.

“An anomaly?”

“The dementors are…?”

The auror’s sharp gaze narrowed at him before turning to Harry.

“Tell me you didn’t come here with a muggle.” barked the old wizard.

Harry remained stoical under his gaze and raised his chin.

“Would there be a problem if that were the case?”

“Of course there would! Not only are you breaching the Statue of Secrecy…”

“I’m exempt from it.”

“…but you’re putting a defenceless muggle at risk!”

The younger wizard flinched at that and the Time Lord frowned before putting an arm around his shoulders.

“I’m not defenceless and I’m not a muggle.”

“Are you a wizard, then?”

“No.”

The auror frowned at him.

“A squib?”

“No.”

“A magical creature?”

“No. I don’t have magic. Not a tiny bit.”

The auror looked at him for a while before deciding to change the topic.

“Then you’re defenceless. Against the dementors.” added.

“And the dementors are…?” insisted the man.

“The creatures that attacked us outside.”

“Those skeletal figures clothed in black cloaks?”

Harry smiled inwardly. It seemed the Doctor was at least able to see them. He had feared he wouldn’t, since his cousin hadn’t been able in the summer after his fourth year.

“Yes, they are blind but they can sense and feed on their victims’ happiness. They can also Kiss their victims, which means that they literally suck the soul out of their bodies. And they guard Azkaban.”

“They don’t sound friendly.”

“They’re far from friendly, but they’re under the Ministry’s control.” said Mad-Eye. “For now.”

“For now?” asked the Doctor.

“During the war the dementors sided with Voldemort.” explained Harry.

Moody didn’t comment on his use of the Dark Lord’s name for a second time.

“That’s bad.”

The auror snorted at the man’s words.

“Well, at least being a muggle means it’s impossible for him to be Crouch.”

“He does look a lot like him, but he has no relation at all with Barty Crouch Junior.” assured Harry not having noticed before that there was the risk Moody would confuse them.

Though he supposed his crystal eye noticed some differences between them. Moody hummed a little in response.

“So what’s the problem with the dementors? What’s that anomaly you were saying…?”

The door being opened interrupted Harry’s questions and they all looked in that direction.

“Auror Moody, it’s happening again!”

It was a new auror who shouted this and the old wizard stood up, limping fast towards the entrance. The Doctor and his wizard shared a look and followed after the others.

“Auror Moody, what’s going on?”

They found themselves in a dark corridor carved in the stone with seven aurors. Three of them were Thompshill, Johnson and Rogers, but they didn’t know who the others were.

“Are you capable of creating a good enough patronus?” asked Moody.

“Yes, a corporeal patronus.” assured Harry.

“Against a dementor?”

“Against as many dementors as there are.” replied the young wizard firmly.

“Then, I’ll take you up on your offer of help.”

The other auror raised his eyebrows at that. Moody wasn’t known to accept help easily, even less from an unknown source.

“Maybe then you could tell auror Johnson to give me my wand back.”

Moody frowned and signalled the man to do just that. Just before Johnson gave him his wand, auror Rogers stopped him.

“Are you sure, Moody?”

“Yes, I’m sure, Rogers. Now give him his wand.”

Auror Johnson did as ordered and Harry gratefully took it. For a brief moment, relief was clear across his face and the other wizards smiled knowingly, making him blush.

“What?” asked the Doctor in a whisper.

“For a wizard, being separated from his wand is like being apart from a piece of himself.” the Time Lord looked at him in confusion and the younger time traveller tried to find a comparison he would understand. “It’s as if you’re separated from the TARDIS.”

The man winced in sympathy. He understood that too well.

“What section did you find it in?” asked Moody to the auror that had alerted them.

“The minimum security cells.” answered the auror readily.

“Did you clear them from dementors?”

“Yes, sir. I sent some to patrol the island and the rest to the maximum security cells.”

The old wizard nodded and started to walk down the corridor. The others followed.

“How are you feeling?” asked the Doctor lowly.

“What?”

“After the dementors and, you know, fainting.”

“Oh, that.” Harry blushed and the man smiled in amusement, though there was worry in his eyes. “I’m fine. The chocolate helps a lot.”

The Time Lord maintained his gaze for a few seconds before nodding with clear relief and kissing his forehead.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“What’s that?” asked Harry eyeing the black bundle on the floor.

“A dead dementor.”

The wizard’s head shot up at that and he fixed Mad-Eye with an incredulous stare.

“A dead dementor? The dementors can’t die.” exclaimed Harry.

“There’s never been a recorded case of one dying,” agreed Moody. “but this one is dead.”

“Has it happened before?” frowned the youngest wizard.

“Last week died three. The Ministry’s worried and sent me here to investigate. They want to know what’s causing this and how to control it.”

“You mean to stop it.”

“No, I mean control it.”

“Why?” wondered the Doctor.

“Because having a way to kill them would give the Ministry more power over the dementors.” explained Harry before any of the wizards could.

None of the aurors tried to deny his words and the Doctor found his expression mirroring Harry’s dark one. Moody cleared his throat and continued.

“So you don’t have any idea of what is causing this?”

“How would they know?” asked one of the aurors.

Moody ignored him and continued looking at the two.

“No. I’ve never heard anything even similar to this.” was the teen’s truthful answer.

The old auror nodded, already expecting that.

“Do you mind?” asked Harry pointing at the black bundle.

“Go on.”

The wizard approached the dead dementor and placed a hand over it, closing his eyes. A frown appeared on his beautiful face.

“What?” asked Moody.

“The magic is gone.”

“It’s dead, of course its magic is gone.” said one of the aurors rolling his eyes.

“First, it’s a he, not an it. Dementors are living breathing creatures and deserve respect just like any of you. And, second, the magic is completely gone. When a magical being dies, the magic doesn’t just disappear. It takes days, weeks if the being is powerful enough, for the magic to leave the body. That’s why our corpses don’t start to rot as fast as muggles’ and why it’s possible to create inferi.” informed the younger wizard.

“And how do you know that?” sneered the same man.

“Because I’m magic sensible. I can see and feel magic.”

That shut up the other, who grumbled and looked away. The Doctor was amazed at the things he was hearing, though he had many questions too.

“So this dementor should have some magic left?” asked gruffly Moody. “What do you think this means?”

The other aurors were stunned. It was unheard of Moody ever asking advice from others.

“Well, if it were any other creature, I would say he was killed by a ‘Killing Curse’. However, we’re talking about dementors. They are beings made purely of Death Magic and the ‘Killing Curse’ is no more than a blast of Death Magic. It would make them stronger instead of killing them by stripping them of their magic. I’m not sure what else could do this.” sighed the teen.

“So we’re still like at the beginning.” said the auror from before with a sneer.

“At least he’s trying to help; what are you doing?” answered the Doctor scowling at the man.

The auror took out his wand and pointed it at the Time Lord. In a second, Harry was in front of him, ready to put up a shield. It wasn’t necessary, however, as another auror, this time the only woman of the group, stopped him by grabbing his wand arm.

“You’re an auror, Cray. Behave like that.” ordered harshly.

“Shut up, Greengrass. As if a dark witch like you could…”

“You shouldn’t continue that way, Cray.” warned darkly the Head Auror.

“Greengrass?” asked Harry surprised.

“Cassandra Greengrass. And you are?”

Harry was stumped. This was Cassandra ‘Cassy’ Greengrass? This was the woman that inspired the future Greengrass Heir into becoming an auror? This was Daphne’s aunt? But hadn’t she..? the teen’s eyes widened incredibly.

“Oh, oh, sorry, eh, yeah, I’m Harry, Harry Smith, and this is the Doctor.”

“Doctor who?

“Just the Doctor.” answered the Time Lord with a wide smile.

She raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.

“Moody, do you think I could have a look at the other bodies? If you’re keeping them, of course.” asked Harry.

“Are you crazy? What do you want a dead dementor for?” asked Cray.

“What would he want it for? He wants to check if they have any magic left.” said the Doctor looking at the auror as if he were idiot simply for asking.

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

They entered the stone room — honestly, the Doctor thought they should try something more original. There should be a law forbidding them from making more than a quarter of the prison of stone. Maybe he and Harry could try and convince them of that later…

They saw as auror Cray levitated the dead dementor onto a table without any care, getting a glare from Harry that he ignored.

“Here’s the body of the last dementor that died, two days ago.” Moody signalled to the next table.

“And the other two?”

“They were taken by the Department of Mysteries.”

“The Department of Mysteries?”

“It’s a secret sector within the Ministry. They are like high level scientists. They dabble in every branch of magic, studying everything they come across and recording it. Although seeing as some of those things are too dangerous for the rest to know, they have to keep many of their discoveries a secret. Hence the name” explained Harry.

“I understand. What do you think they will do with the bodies?” asked the Doctor curiously.

“First, see if they can discover what killed them. Then see if they can be of any use in areas like potions or the like.”

The Doctor didn’t have time to ask anymore as the wizard approached the new body and run a hand over it, closing his eyes.

“It’s empty. No magic at all left.” sighed. “It’s a wonder it hasn’t started to rot yet. Wait, do dementor corpses rot?”

“We didn’t want to risk it so we put them under a stasis spell.” said Moody.

“Oh, that’s what’s surrounding them!” exclaimed Harry before the Doctor could say anything.

“So we are now like in the beginning. We don’t know what is causing this and have no idea where to begin searching for answers.”

Nobody said anything. What Cray was saying was true.

“Did anyone see how the dementors died? Were there any witnesses?”

All the wizards turned to the Doctor and blinked.

“What?”

“That’s… that’s actually a great idea.” said Harry slowly.

“Yeah, I have lots of those.” answered the man with a smirk.

“Oh, don’t get cocky.” rolled her eyes Cassandra.

Harry laughed and the man pouted at the woman. She winked at the laughing wizard while the others looked on with amusement.

“Okay, so… were there any witnesses, auror Moody?”

“Auror Randall and I were there when it happened today, sir.” said a blond auror stepping forward to his senior.

“Did you see something?”

“No, sir.” answered the other. “The dementors were just passing by the cells when we heard something. We turned around and saw the dementor falling to the ground. The detection spells didn’t find anything unusual and we called you immediately.”

“You didn’t see anything unusual? Anything at all?” asked Harry with a frown.

“No, nothing.”

“And nobody else saw it the other times?” inquired the Doctor.

“Well, some of the prisoners did.” admitted Johnson hesitantly.

“The prisoners?”

“Yeah, in the maximum security cells.” said Greengrass.

“Did you talk with them?” asked the Doctor.

The aurors exchanged glances and shook their heads. The man frowned.

“Why not?” asked Harry.

“It’s the maximum security area. We try not to talk too much to the prisoners there.”

“So you just ignore a perfectly good lead? Wait, don’t answer that.” sighed Harry. “Okay, we need to go there and talk with the prisoners.”

Moody nodded slowly, looking around.

“Very well, Cray, Stain and Thompshill, you stay here. The others are coming with us.”

Everyone nodded in understanding, although Cray was scowling at the old auror.

“You’re not going to listen if I ask you to stay here, are you, Doctor?”

“Hell, no.” laughed the man.

Harry sighed but shook his head in fondness.

“Okay. Let’s go see what our unfortunate witnesses have to say.”

 

HPDWHPDWHPDWHPDW

 

“Harry, why are they all so scared of the prisoners in the maximum security zone?” asked the Doctor very low.

“The wizards and witches in those cells are the worst kind you could ever find. Many are murderers and rapists and most of them are Death Eaters.”

The Doctor looked at him with seriousness. He was worried that it would hurt Harry having to do this. He didn’t know many details about the war, but he had a hunch that Harry had been in the middle of it all.

They arrived at the area they had been intending to without any problem, with the patronuses of the aurors gliding at the front. The crazy cackles and shouts for mercy let them know it.

Harry supressed a shiver and gulped, looking at the Doctor from the corner of his eye. The man looked sombre as he looked around at the infrahuman conditions of the cells.

“This won’t last forever, Doctor.” whispered Harry making sure nobody else heard them. “In my time, Azkaban is not like this anymore. The dementors don’t feed on the prisoners freely. When a prisoner enters Azkaban a copy of their memories is put into a pensieve, an object used to store and review memories, and the dementors feed only from the pensieves. Also, the cells are more like tiny rooms than real cells. It is not as bad as it is now. We made sure of it.”

The man nodded at him, saying that he had heard him. They tried to ignore the screams and focus on the aurors before them.

“Who saw the deaths?” asked Moody.

“Greyback and Avery.”

Harry paled at the names and strengthened his occlumency barriers, not wanting the memories of their crimes to overwhelm him.

“Harry?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” then the wizard raised his voice. “Auror Moody, if you don’t mind I will talk with them.”

“Not without me, boy.”

Harry contained a wince at the word boy. Even after all those years, it still managed to make fear course through his veins.

He nodded curtly at his future professor and turned to the Doctor, but the man raised an eyebrow and he knew the Time Lord wouldn’t let him enter the cell alone. He sighed again, listening to Moody giving orders.

“Johnson, Randall, the left side of the corridor. Cover it with the patronus charm. Greengrass, Rogers, the right side. You two, with me. Now.”

They walked to the middle of the corridor while the others took place at the entrance.

“Which one first? Greyback or Avery?”

“Avery.”

He had undoubtedly much less bad memories of Avery. Or memories at all.

Moody nodded briskly and walked to one of the cells. He opened the door and indicated for him to take out his wand before entering.

Harry did so and swallowed before taking a step forward. A hand holding his made him pause and look back. The Time Lord smiled softly and leaned down to give him a chaste kiss. Harry sighed in contentment and squeezed his hand in thanks for the comfort.

They walked into the room and saw Moody standing next to the door, his wand trained on a dark figure lying on a heap in a corner. Avery.

“Wake up, scum. We have questions for you.”

The Doctor frowned at the rough treatment the prisoner was receiving, but said nothing.

“Scum, scum…” the man laughed insanely, shaking. “You aurors are scum. You will see it… you will see it… when my master returns…”

“When your master returns,” sneered Moody. “do you really think he will worry about you? That you will be rewarded for your loyalty? You’re as stupid as your fellow Death Eaters. The Dark Lord cares only for himself.”

The Doctor felt better for not saying anything knowing the man was one of the followers of Riddle and had therefore contributed to his little one’s pain. In his books, he deserved every horror Azkaban could ever give him. He wasn’t going to say that aloud, though.

“But we’re not here to talk about your master. Last week, when those dementors died, what did you see?”

“It’s been a week?” cackled the prisoner looking up at them with craziness and gaunt face.

“Answer the question, Avery.” growled the wizened auror.

“They died. The dementors died. Fell to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Like inferi without magic.”

“But how? How did they die?” asked the Doctor. “Did they do something before?”

“Who are you?”

“We’re nobody.” mumbled Harry taking a deep breath and a step forward. “Now answer the questions, Avery.”

“Or would you rather we ask the dementors to come make you? I’m sure they’ll be happy to spend some time with you.”

The Death Eater whimpered at Mad-Eye’s threat. It was obvious he was terrified of the dark beings.

“They died. They just died. They were fine and then they fell. I didn’t see anything else. Not the dementors, not the dementors.”

The man started to shake harder and harder, muttering unintelligible things. When the prisoner looked up at them with an insane glint in his eyes, the Doctor grabbed Harry’s elbow and dragged him back.

Moody barely managed to put up a shield before the prisoner slammed against it.

“Back down! Back down now.” ordered Moody harshly.

The Doctor did and pulled Harry back with himself. They stumbled out of the cell and Moody closed the door after all of them.

They were left panting in the corridor while the Death Eater clawed at the bars, trying to reach them. Harry pointed his wand at him and suddenly the shouts cut out, but they could still see his lips moving.

“Well, that was unhelpful.” muttered grumpily Alastor.

“Are you okay?” asked the Doctor worriedly.

“Yeah, just… Greyback.” said Harry abruptly. “Let’s see if he has anything to say.”

Moody looked into his eyes, searching for something and nodded.

“Do not get too close to him.” warned.

“Why not?”

“He’s a werewolf.”

“A werewolf?” repeated the man looking at the teen with clear excitement in his eyes. “Like…”

“Like Remus Lupin. In fact, Fenrir Greyback was the one that transformed Remus.” said softly Harry, obviously lost in his memories before shaking his head. “Well, let’s go.”

Moody opened another door and they entered the cell. They found a man dressed in rags and chained to the floor. He looked and felt feral and had the same wild energy Teddy had but much, much stronger.

“Greyback, we have a few questions for you.”

“Moody. Coming to visit those you put here in the first place?”

“What did you see when those dementors died last week?”

“Why should I tell you anything?” growled.

“We don’t have time for your games, Greyback. Answer the damn question.” snarled the youngest wizard surprising the Time Lord.

The werewolf lifted his head and sniffed the air before looking at the teen with a strange look.

“Hello there, cub. You sure are a pretty thing. What are you doing in a place like this?”

The Doctor put an arm in front on Harry, gently moving him so he was hiding him a little with his own body.

“Oh, and what are you? His protector?” laughed Greyback.

“And anything he needs me to be.” said the Time Lord coldly.

The werewolves laugh cut off abruptly and he regarded the man with calculating eyes, surprising for a man in Azkaban.

“I see.” Then his eyes went back to Harry and his expression changed to a leer. “If what you want is to spend a good time, you can always come here and take these chains off me.”

The Doctor felt the strong urge of punching the wolf, but it was Moody that pushed him against the wall.

“Don’t make me force you to cooperate.”

“Ask it nicely and I’ll think about it.”

But Harry didn’t think he had the patience to be nice with the man that had cursed Remus and so many other children.

The wizard put the tip of his wand on the man’s neck and crouched.

“I have another idea. You tell us what we want to know and we don’t serve you to the dementors as their next meal. How does that sound?”

“You wouldn’t do it, cub. We’re family, after all. You wouldn’t give Grandpa Fenrir to the big bad dementors, would you?” taunted him the werewolf.

“You don’t understand the situation you’re in, do you?”

“Lower your wand, cub.”

“I’m not your cub.”

“But you’re the cub of one of my pups. I can smell it on you.” stated the man. “I may not be able to put a name to his scent right now, I don’t really remember all those that I turned, but you smell like the cub of one of my wolves.”

“Be it as it may, we’re not here for that. Answer the questions.” ordered Moody.

Fenrir growled at the male before meeting Harry’s unwavering gaze.

“As you wish, cub. We’ll make a deal.”

“We make no deals with Death Eaters.” barked Moody.

“Then, you can get out.”

“What do you want?” asked Harry.

“Take me out of Azkaban.”

“You really think we’ll accept that?” scoffed Harry.

“No, but it was worth a try.” shrugged the wolf.

“Try again. And this time, try being more realistic.” said the Doctor feeling like rolling his eyes.

“Fine. I’ll talk if you tell me whose cub you are.”

Harry contemplated the idea. Greyback would always remember his scent and that, coupled with knowing Remus’ identity, could be very dangerous in the future. He didn’t want to accidentally change the future.

However, there was time. He could always obliviate him at a later date or something. It was risky but it was the only option at the moment.

“Deal.”

Moody grumbled, but didn’t say anything.

“What do you want to know, cub?”

“What happened when those dementors died?”

“They were fine first, feeding on us as always. Then, something strange happened. One of them started flailing its arms around and scratching at his body, as if he was itching or something. Like a wolf with fleas.” laughed the werewolf wildly. “The others scattered and, then… it simply fell.”

The three free men frowned. That wasn’t as helpful as they had hoped but it was better than with Avery.

“Anything else?”

“Not that I can remember. Well, there’s the smell. Their under-scent. It disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Disappeared. Vanished.”

“Thanks.” nodded Harry getting up and indicating for the others to get out of the cell.

“Wait! Your part of the deal, cub!”

Without turning to look at the werewolf, Harry smiled.

“Oh, I’m sure you remember him just fine. Remus Lupin.”

With that said, Harry stepped out of the cell and closed the door after himself. The Doctor saw with wide eyes as the werewolf took a few seconds to process the name before reacting, launching forward and against the chains, trying to get to Harry.

He heard shouts about rebellious wolf cubs before the sound cut off like with Avery and Harry turned to smirk at the wolf, winking as if he had just told him a very funny joke.

“Let’s go meet with the others.” muttered Mad-Eye.

As soon as they were out of sight of the werewolf, Harry deflated.

“Harry?”

Inside that cell, the wizard had been acting very out of character and he was worried it might have been from finding himself in this kind of situation in which he had to face Death Eaters that he probably knew from the future war.

“Sorry, Doctor. It’s just… Greyback has done and will do such horrible things that…” the wizard sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I couldn’t show any weakness. He’s a male alpha. Any sign of weakness and he wouldn’t have answered our questions.”

“It’s okay. I understand, little one. Well, not really. I don’t understand your world at all. Yet. But I trust you.”

Harry stopped and looked him in the eyes before smiling weakly at him.

“I’ll try to be worthy of that trust.”

“Oh, you already are, little one.”

“I’m not little.” pouted, though he would forever deny it, the wizard.

“You are.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I’m not little, Doctor.”

“Of course you are. You are little. My little one.”

The teen huffed and started to walk again after Moody, but the Doctor could still see the softening of his eyes.

“What did he mean with the under-scent comment?”

“Some creatures, such as werewolves, can smell a certain scent below the scent of a being. It’s their magic. The different under-scents are the kind of magic the creature has.” lectured Moody.

“For example, a dementor and a necromancer would have the same or very similar under-scent, since they both have mainly death magic. If the under-scent of dementor disappeared while it was dying, it means he died because he was drained of its magic.”

“Then, a magical being dies if they somehow lose all their magic?”

“Well, not every being. Usually it’s only those that are mainly made of magic, like the dementors.”

“Oh! Interesting. So, what are we going to do now?” asked the Time Lord.

“We’re going to meet up with the others and see what we can come up with.” growled Moody.

“So there’s not a plan?”

“No.” said Harry sounding strangely happy at the thought.

“Don’t sound too sad.” teased the man.

“I work better without plans. Improvising is my thing.” explained Harry blushing.

“What a coincidence. Mine too.” grinned the Doctor.

Their grins slipped from their faces when they heard shouts coming from the group standing at the entrance of the maximum security area. Dementors. Dementors were swarming the place.

The aurors were being overwhelmed by the large group of dark creatures and some of them had already slipped past Randall and Johnson. Moody barked an order for Harry but the teen was already starting the spell.

He thought back on the kiss the Doctor and him had shared before meeting with Jack and Martha. The warmth of the Doctor’s lips against his own, the scent that made him feel so safe, the simple bliss he felt just for being in his arms…

“Expecto patronus.”

The Doctor saw as a bright white light got out from the tip of the wizards wands that he remembered seeing Harry try using against the Vashta Narada. Unlike that time, however, the lights took almost solid forms.

Moody’s patronus looked like a ram or something similar while Harry’s patronus… The Doctor felt his breath catch on his throat at the sight of the beautiful animal that came out of his wand.

It looked like a horse but it had the head and wings of a giant eagle and was covered in what he guessed to be feathers.

Now, the Doctor may not know much about Harry’s world but he knew enough about mythology to know what it was. A hippogriff. It gave off waves of happiness and calmness.

Harry didn’t waste a second before directing the creature to charge against the dementors that were still trying to slip past Johnson and Randall whilst Moody directed his against those that were approaching them.

Harry told the Doctor to move so he was standing against a wall instead of the middle of the corridor. The man did so and felt helpless as he saw the wizards battle the creatures.

His thoughts turned darker and darker, knowing he couldn’t protect his Harry from these beings. He was useless… the Doctor looked around and saw the reason for his dark thoughts. A dementor had somehow slipped behind Harry’s back.

As Harry was focused on two of the dementors that were attacking the barrier in front of Johnson, he failed to notice the dark shadow approaching his back.

“Harry!”

The Doctor’s shout made him turn abruptly. A black putrid hand shot out of a dark cloak and wrapped around his wrist. Harry froze. The contact with the dementor only intensified the feelings of cold and horror they brought. The teen barely spared a thought to the dark mark appearing on his wrist where the dementor was touching him.

The being leaned in towards the young wizard while reaching up with his other hand to lower the hood. Suddenly, Harry couldn’t see the dementor anymore. Something brown blocked his line of vision.

It took him a moment to realize it was the Doctor. The Time Lord had just put himself between a dementor and him.

The man was pointing his screwdriver at the dementor but it didn’t look like whatever the Doctor was trying was working.

With horror clouding his mind, he thought he heard a whisper.

“Not… master…”

The wizard tugged on the Time Lord’s trench coat and they stumbled back, trying to put distance between them and the creature.

A second later a patronus shaped as a swan charged against the dementor, sending it back to the others. Harry looked at Cassandra Greengrass in relief and nodded at her gratefully. The usually cold woman nodded back and gave a little smile.

Harry directed his patronus to continue charging against the dementors but more and more of them continued coming and slipping past them.

Some floated over to the cells and they saw in horror as some of the prisoners were Kissed.

“Back down! Back down!” barked Moody. “Everyone back to the storage rooms!”

The aurors and the two men huddled together, the patronuses trotting around them and keeping away the soul eating creatures.

A sudden thought struck Harry while he saw the dementors Kissing prisoners left and right.

“Moody! Black! Where is he?”

“What!?” grunted the old man.

“Black! Sirius Black! Where is he held!?”

“What does that matter right now?” growled the old auror.

“Just tell me!”

Seeing the old auror frown, Greengrass looked up at the ceiling in exasperation and answered.

“Next to Bellatrix Lestrange. Three cells down the corridor in front of Avery’s cell.”

Harry nodded and run. The Doctor’s eyes widened and he run after him, ignoring the cursing of the aurors as the group split up.

Harry’s patronus charged against any dementor that dared approach too much and the Doctor reached Harry as he was counting the cells.

“One, two, three. This is it.” the wizard tried to open the door, but it didn’t move. His wand pointed at the door. “Alohomora.”

The door opened.

“Harry, what are you doing?”

But the wizard simply run into the cell. The Doctor followed.

The room smelled horribly. In a dark corner, they could see the form of a dirt covered man with his hands covering his ears to muffle the sounds of the other prisoners and rocking slightly.

“Sirius. Sirius, come on. We need to get out of here.”

The form just rocked harder at Harry’s desperate calls. His little wizard approached the man and took his hands in his.

“Sirius, please. You need to come with us.”

Sirius, whom the Doctor was now fairly sure was Harry’s in the future deceased godfather, looked up and gasped, clutching Harry’s hands harder.

“James?”

The Doctor could practically feel Harry’s pain and sadness rolling in waves off of him at that name.

“No, Sirius. I’m not James.”

Sirius looked confused for a moment before he recognized the green colour that was so out of place in Azkaban and his eyes filled with tears.

“Ha-Harry? But you were only a baby… How long have I been here?”

“There’s no time for that, Sirius. You must come with me.”

The Doctor helped him get the other wizard on his feet and each grabbed an arm to carry him out of the cell. The young wizard smiled gratefully, a beautiful smile full of warmth, at the Doctor.

The animagus hadn’t stopped looking at Harry for a second, drinking in his sight as if he was the most wonderful thing in the world. Not that the Doctor didn’t agree on that.

“Harry, Harry, I’m so sorry… It’s my fault. I didn’t… I swear to you, I didn’t want…”

“Shh, Sirius, I know. I know. It wasn’t your fault.”

Harry felt his patronus  getting weaker as more and more dementors flocked to them, the combination of Sirius’, Harry’s and the Doctor’s memories too tempting to be ignored.

Therefore, he was understandably relieved when the aurors patronuses joined his.

“What do you think you’re doing?” growled Moody when he saw the prisoner the Doctor and Harry were carrying.

“You can shout at me later, Moody, now let’s get the hell out of here. This is no place to discuss this.”

The auror grunted and, keeping his crystal eye on a shaking as a leaf Black, directed them out. They run out of the area where the maximum security cells were and didn’t stop until they couldn’t feel the dementors anymore.

Sirius fell to his knees, exhausted. His health wasn’t exactly the best and he had just had to run for Merlin knows how long.

When the patronuses vanished, Moody turned around to growl at Harry.

“Reckless child! What did you think you were doing!? Running alone as if we weren’t surrounded by dementors!”

Harry held his head high. He wasn’t going to apologize for saving his godfather. There was no guarantee he would have survived the dementors. Time could rewrite itself and where would that leave him? He wouldn’t have met Sirius. He wouldn’t have known he was innocent. Pettigrew would have still been considered a hero.

“Do you want to end up dead? Or worse, Kissed?”

He saw the Doctor’s face pale at those words. They still didn’t know if he was really immortal or just lucky and they had no intention to discover it anytime soon either.

Harry felt guilty. The Doctor would blame himself if he was killed. He didn’t want to be the cause of the Doctor’s suffering. And he knew the Doctor would suffer if he died. The man had put himself between a dementor and him! If there had been any doubt that the Time Lord loved him, it disappeared with that action.

“And, of course, you had to go and free…”

The sound of steps made them pause and they turned to see a disturbed looking Cray running towards them. He was alone.

“Cray! What are you doing here? Where are Thompshill and Stain?” asked auror Rogers worried for his men.

“They were Kissed.”


End file.
